Fahmi urges media council to meet social media platforms over election fake news

KUALA PILAH: Communications Minister Datuk Fahmi Fadzil has urged the Malaysian Media Council (MMC) to meet with social media platforms to coordinate action against fake news ahead of state elections in Johor and Negeri Sembilan.

Fahmi highlighted the growing misuse of local media logos to generate fabricated graphics and reports on social media as a key concern.

“I discussed with the MMC recently, and they expressed apprehension over the same issue: fake news and the misuse of local media logos to generate fabricated graphics,” he said.

A joint initiative between the government and the MMC to tackle election misinformation will be announced at the upcoming National Journalists’ Day (HAWANA) celebration in Penang.

Fahmi said social media platforms must play a more proactive role by taking immediate action against user-reported fake content, particularly regarding elections.

“Certain platforms, such as TikTok, already feature a dedicated reporting button for election misinformation or false content regarding elections,” he said.

The announcement was made at the launch of the AI@NADI programme at the Seri Menanti National Information Dissemination Centre in Kuala Pilah.

There are 62 NADI centres operating in Negeri Sembilan, running community programmes such as the WIRA AI initiative to expose students to ethical AI use.

The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission provides RM19 million a year to sustain nationwide NADI operations and digital literacy programmes.

Fahmi said the government aims to produce at least one prompt engineer at every NADI centre nationwide.

“We do not want to be mere consumers of foreign applications; instead, we want to produce local AI developers, especially among high school leavers,” he said.

Source: Bernama