Annuar Musa should not make “brave” statements about being more proactive in tacking cybercrimes when he continues to be dumb since the revelation a month ago that the Malaysian police are running a “troll farm”
The Minister for Communications and Multimedia, Annuar Musa should not make “brave” statements about being more proactive in tacking cybercimes when he continues to be dumb since the revelation a month ago that the Malaysian Police are running a troll farm.
Does the police running a troll farm come within the definition of what Annuar said in Malacca yesterday that the government would take “offensive, defensive and advocacy measures” in taking the country’s cyber security issues?
Would Annuar give a report to Parliament on the issue when it resumes sitting on Oct. 3?
The media giant Meta had implicated the Malaysian Police in attempts to manipulate public discourse by setting up a “troll farm”.
Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, has alleged in its Quarterly Adversarial Threat Report that it had removed hundreds of Facebook and Instagram accounts, pages and groups which are part of a troll farm operated by the Police aimed at social media users in Malaysia
Meta removed 596 Facebook accounts, 180 pages, 11 groups and 72 Instagram accounts targeted domestic audiences in Malaysia.
The Meta Report said:
“The individuals behind it ran a troll farm – a coordinated effort by co-located operators to corrupt or manipulate public discourse by using fake accounts and misleading people about who is behind them.
“They were active across the internet, including Facebook, TikTok, Twitter and Instagram, and posted memes in Malay in support of the current government coalition, with claims of corruption among its critics.
“On Facebook, this network managed pages, including those posing as independent news entities, and promoted police while criticising the opposition.
“We found this network after reviewing information about a small portion of this activity initially suspected to have originated in China by researchers at Clemson University. Although the people behind it attempted to conceal their identity and coordination, our investigation found links to the Royal Malaysian Police.”
Apart from a weak and unconvincing denial by the Police, with a promise to get more information about the matter, there had been thunderous silence on the issue for close to a month.
Can Annuar respond?