Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli.--Bernama
PETALING JAYA: Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli has thrown down the gauntlet by extending a Q&A podcast invitation to a pro-Perikatan Nasional social media user who has been criticising government policies on his TikTok account.
Rafizi, who is also PKR’s deputy president, said that the country is facing threats from so-called influencers who are disseminating baseless allegations to the public which need to be addressed.
“With the existence of social media platforms (especially TikTok), they spread slander and lies widely.
“They will play one sentiment after another that does not reflect the real picture and perspective, which ultimately distorts the people's understanding of an issue,” he wrote in a post on his X account on Friday (Dec 15).
“When asked in Parliament, their own political leaders could not answer. I always ask Perikatan MPs about the economic measures they use as evidence for their claim on a collapsing economy. They only stammer and blush,” he added.
Rafizi said this could expose misled social media users to lawsuits for spreading false information.
"At the end of the day, hardcore (Perikatan) supporters end up suffering while their leaders live luxurious lives with big cars, positions, and pensions,” he added.
Rafizi said to curb the problem, political leaders like himself should face the people in a question and answer session.
“People ask, I answer. I ask the rakyat (to share knowledge), so it’s fitting that the rakyat answers it too.
“But, with a condition that (the person) should not hide behind a digital identity which is abused to spread lies.
“When one uses his or her own identity, the person must be ready to face legal action for spreading lies," he said, referring to an X account with the name “YB Viral” whom he had invited for the podcast session.
He said YB Viral would be the first experiment.
“If he dares to fill up the personal details form and return it to my office, with God’s will, I will provide the widest space for him to ‘burn’ me and proof that I’m the ‘dumbest minister’ as he has been claiming,” Rafizi said.
According to the invitation letter Rafizi attached in the post, YB Viral is invited to the podcast session entitled “Yang Bakar Menteri” set for Jan 8 next year.
In response, YB Viral posted a video saying that Rafizi should meet up with former health minister Khairy Jamaluddin and Shahril Hamdan for the podcast session.
“Embarrassing. Then the status on Twitter (now X), I pity Rafizi, blackmailing (sic) to sue us, calling us as threats.
“What bloody nonsense is this? Are you going to sue academicians who are pointing out your failure?” he said in his video posted Friday on the X platform.
“Don’t waste my precious time, if you want to debate, then do it. If you want to do a podcast session, go to ‘Keluar Sekejap’,” he added in reference to Khairy and Shahril’s podcast channel.
