PETALING JAYA: A Selangor PAS lawmaker has been hauled up by Malaysia’s Internet regulator for allegedly making a post that contained false information regarding Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Dr Mohd Zamri Mohd Zainuldin, who is the Sungai Burong assemblyman, gave his statement to officers of the Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) on Jan 7.
“MCMC had received public complaints about social media accounts on Facebook that had been spreading fake news about the Prime Minister,” the commission said in a statement on Jan 9.
“The investigations found that most of these accounts were fake. But MCMC had identified that one of these accounts belonged to the Sungai Burong state assemblyman in Selangor”.
As a result, MCMC has recorded a statement from Zamri to aid in a police investigation, the commission said.
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On Jan 3, Perak PKR members had lodged police reports against two social media accounts, one going by the name of Aiman Zaki and the other allegedly belonging to Zamri.
The Perak PKR members had reportedly claimed that the postings had falsely accused Anwar of supporting Iswardy Morni, another PKR member who had been found guilty of sedition for insulting the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong.
On Dec 30, The Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court had found Iswardy guilty of sedition for making those comments in 2021.
In the MCMC statement on Zamri, the regulator said police had confiscated one smartphone and SIM card to assist in investigations.
“A forensic analysis will be carried out on the device as part of the investigation.”
The case is being investigated under Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 which carries a RM50,000 fine, a year in prison or both.
“MCMC reminds everyone to be careful in uploading any post to social media and to ensure that what is being posted is verified”.