JOHOR BARU: The Communications and Digital Ministry has not received any reports regarding issues related to the 3Rs (race, religion, and royalty) throughout the campaign period for the Pulai parliamentary and Simpang Jeram state seat by-elections.
Deputy Communications and Digital Minister Teo Nie Ching said that, however, the Ministry, through the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), will continue to monitor the situation until the campaign period is over.
"The Election Commission, together with the MCMC and the police, have earlier set up a taskforce to oversee any issues regarding 3Rs.
"However, we have received no report of such cases,” she said when met by reporters after conducting a visit to the Kampung Orang Asli (KOA) Sungai Temon community in Perling here on Saturday (Sept 2).
The heat of the by-elections could not match the heat of the previous six state elections and the general elections, she added.
"For the previous six state elections, we have received 26 reports on the 3Rs, which have been handed over to the police.
"But for the by-elections, the campaign is a bit slow, and if we look at the turnout for the recent six state elections, all states except Kedah recorded a low voter turnout, which is lower than the previous general elections," she added.
When asked to comment on the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) statement urging the Communications and Digital Ministry to stop the wave of censorship targeting online news websites, Teo said that the ministry will only take action based on the suggestion by the police.
"The MCMC will only take action when there are irresponsible people who have taken advantage of freedom of speech.
"We need to take immediate action on this as fake news travel or spread six times faster than the explanation for any issues.
"So the impact of the explanation can never cover the impact of the dissemination of fake news, not only in Malaysia but in other countries in general.
"We have no intention of stopping any freedom of speech, even if it involves a campaign from the opposition, but if it touches on the issues of the 3Rs, we will take serious action," she said.
The ministry was also open to more discussion from any NGOs and stakeholders so that any action taken by the MCMC was more transparent to the public, she added.
