PETALING JAYA: Hate speech is not just about what is written – the root problem often lies with the feelings behind the text, says Siraj Jalil.
The Malaysia Cyber Consumer Association (MCCA) president said hate speech was a result of something brewing within, which often may have been ignored.
“Hate speech is not new – when we first founded MCCA in 2018, the early hypothesis derived from the government was that the culmination of hate speech was formulating public opinion,” he said.
As most hate speech here is linked to politics, what happens is that it then goes back to society, said Siraj, adding that good leadership creates good results.
He said the only way to address the issue was to have an education system or module on digital usage that will allow people to differentiate between criticism, condemnation, negative comments and the psychology behind what is said.
Citing the controversy surrounding a local actor recently, he said from the barrage of comments, there was a lot of hate speech, but it was wrong to demonise a person with harmful words even if the person could have been in the wrong.
“It is like if someone hits us, we kill the person. This is wrong because the law is different for someone who hits and someone who kills.
“Educating people about how to use social media ... and how to behave while using digital platforms, is important.
“Right now, things are unstructured at the core, so we need a more structured education system for society,” he added.
Recently, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) said 35,490 posts with provocative content were taken down in 2023, while 27,115 posts were removed in the first two months of this year.
The MCMC said there has been a significant increase in harmful content on social media as well as over-the-top platforms (such as WhatsApp).
Fellow and chair of Information Technology Computer Science at the Academy of Sciences Malaysia, Prof Datuk Dr Mohamed Ridza Wahiddin, said that what the MCMC has done is within its jurisdiction.
There are no shortcuts to the issue and “education with a soul,” especially value-based education, was needed, he said.
“There must be both a reactive and a proactive approach to alleviating the issue. More engagements with the rakyat to educate them is the way forward.
“... we need to understand the root cause of hate speech. I believe the reasons vary, hence different solutions are needed. It’s not one size fits all,” he said.
