by Teh Wei Soon
EACH day, billions of users access social media sites to post news and share their thoughts, including over 15 million Malaysians, according to a 2013 Industry Performance Report published by Internet regulator, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC).
The survey went on to provide the statistics that 64% of the Malaysian population have access to social media. That means over half of the nation's residents do have some interaction with social media.
So, is it safe to assume that what they post, share and issues trending on social media are actual events and opinions in the real world making their way into social media conversation?
If you are an avid user of social media, it would not have escaped your notice that social protest is becoming increasingly prevalent online.
A study carried out in 2011 by the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA looked at the way young people use Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and blogs – in relation to political issues.
They identified a phenomenon where people who are already engaged in social protest in the real world tend to use social media channels to obtain or relay information on the issues from their more active use as a ‘soapbox’ to express personal social or political views. They then sought to correlate such online behaviour with offline, real-world political engagement.
In actual fact, the 'noise' on social media is generated by the same handful of people who are equally vocal in real life and it is amplified by the rapid spread of information online.
A Case Of Noisy Minority vs Silent Majority
Two recent examples in politics seem to underscore this observation.
At the recent elections held in Singapore earlier this month, the electoral campaigns that were waged online had led analysts to predict that the results would show big gains for the Opposition as for the first time in the island republic's history, the combined opposition parties contested in every single constituency.
Yet, when the results were announced, the ruling People Action's Party returned with sweeping victory, winning 83 of 89 seats on offer, proving analysts who depended on indications shown on social media wrong.
In fact, the same happened with the UK elections earlier this year when social media got it wrong about how the majority of the British would vote. Social media was awash with pro-Labour sentiment which did not translate to the real world, leading to a complete washout for them at the polls and a surprise victory for the Conservatives with a jubilant comeback for Prime Minister David Cameron.
Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Salleh Said Keruak had touched on this 'noisy minority, silent majority' phenomena when he wrote in his blog on September 12.
“There is a phrase used in United States politics: the noisy minority and the silent majority. Basically this means while a small group of people may be making so much noise, shouting and demonstrating, there is a bigger group that remains silent and demonstrates its support or otherwise at the ballot box.
“There may be thousands marching and screaming and demonstrating its displeasure. But there may be an even larger group that has no issues and do not share the views of this minority group of noisy protestors.
“Politicians do not fear that noisy minority. What they fear is the silent majority because one never knows what the silent majority is thinking and what they will do come Polling Day,” he wrote.
If we are to put that same theory to test in the Malaysian arena, this brings up the question whether all the negative sentiment clouding the economic, political and social spheres is more pronounced online, churned by a decidedly disproportionate 'noisy' minority?
If we are to follow social media trends in Malaysia for the past few months, it appears that the government, its leaders and financial institutions are in dire straits.
Earlier on June this year, both the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) and the Sarawak Report, had accused a group of companies linked to state fund 1Malaysian Development Bhd (1MDB) of sensationalized financial irregularities which captured the imagination and fascination of local and international media.
To rub salt into the wound, just a fortnight ago, Al Jazeera had aired an investigative documentary on the once highly controversial and entangled Altantuya Shaariibuu saga which has cast a shadow over Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's leadership, largely due to continued speculation and wild conspiracy theories that are kept alive by social media.
If we are to judge by the amount of bad press circulating on social media, it would appear our government is on the brink of collapse and its leadership in tatters but recent events point to the contrary.
While the Internet offers considerable scope to spread political views, people may not actually be spurred to take part in real-world protest activity by information circulating on the social media.
How much attention should we pay for real time events shared via social media, even if the facts are not yet verified — or is it better to wait until the sources have been confirmed and and announcement made by authorized sources before arriving at a conclusion?
Know How To Differentiate Between Truth And Lies
According to Human Rights Watch, Malaysia is a country where the government acts with impunity, persecutes opposition voices, and controls most levers of power.
Be that as it may, the fact that those baseless allegations with misleading statements even emerged suggests that the political discourse in Malaysia is becoming far more open than previously perceived – partly due to the proliferation of social media – especially socio-political websites.
Tan Sri Musa Hassan is the former Inspector-General of Police (IGP) “Social media has increasingly become an alternative platform used to deliver news and information due to the advancement in information technology, but there must always be balance because sometimes it is misused as a medium to spread lies and animosity.”
That was the view shared by former Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Musa Hassan (pic) when contacted by Malaysian Digest to comment on the matter.
“Yes, it is with no doubt that social media helps to deliver useful information to the people, but we need to be cautious as it is sometimes being misused for some wrong reasons. When social media is misused, people will be fed by untruths and misleading statements. When this happens, they will not be able to differentiate between truth and untruth,” said Musa.
Referring to the recent steps taken by the authorities to block some websites which spread sensitive and unverified news, he remarked: “This has nothing to do with the so-called ‘interference’ but more to the efforts to ensure the news presented [to the readers] are fair and balanced.”
“In view of this, news organisations should be responsible in delivering any information. Put simply, they must not manipulate the news. They should take responsibility for the information they provide,” he said, adding that some of the news reports were in fact baseless smears and politically motivated with no solid evidence.
Musa, however, added: “The general public has every right to access to the social media as they should be adequately informed on the current issues”, urging media professionals to abide by responsible journalism.
Do Not Get Trapped In The War Of Perception
Prime Minister Najib Razak had, in many occasions, expressed regret and stressed that allegations and slanders hurled against him were politically motivated as it was an attempt from the opposition to unseat him and topple his government, saying that he was prepared to receive constructive criticisms but "would not stay quiet or compromise if wild allegations that were baseless were being hurled at his family."
Universiti Sains Malaysia political analyst Associate Professor Dr Sivamurugan Pandian (pic) asserted that the role of social media is to disseminate useful and reliable information to the readers instead of spreading the unverified ones. 
Associate Professor Dr Sivamurugan Pandian is a political analyst from Universiti Sains Malaysia
Associate Professor Dr Sivamurugan Pandian is a political analyst from Universiti Sains Malaysia
“Social media plays a significant role in building trust and confidence among the readers, but there is no denying that their roles have become more complex these days. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the readers to verify the authenticity of the information to avoid falling into the war of perceptions,” he told Malaysian Digest when contacted.
Commenting on the MCMC’s recent moves to block several websites for spreading ‘sensitive’ news, Dr Sivamurugan opined that they should instead verify the truth and authenticity behind the headlines before censoring them.
“To ensure that whatever action [the authorities concerned] made does not backfire, they must disclose the rationality behind their decisions,” he said, adding that the authorities concerned must also always educate the readers when it comes to reading news online.
“It is unfair to say all social media disseminate baseless, unverified news. The key point here is the readers themselves. They should try to rationalise and seek the truth on whatever they read on news portal, blog, Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms,” stressed Dr Sivamurugan.
News On Social Media Requires One To Apply Self-Censorship
Contacted last Friday, political blogger Datuk Ahirudin Attan (pic), widely known as Rocky Bru, asserted that although it is unfair to view social media as an anti-government platform due to its diversified users – since they come from all age groups, but social media is, in fact, a bad substitute for genuine and real journalism.
“It is the nature of human to read and search for something ‘sensational’, usually via online news sites. Take, the recent reports by Sarawak Report on 1MDB fiasco for example, it had without doubt gripped the attention of local and international media attention. However, the methods taken were downright unethical as the reports were not been backed by solid evidence.
Datuk Ahirudin Attan is a political blogger, veteran journalist and former editor of several publications“Very often, poorly reported news often relies on unsubstantiated information. This is the reason why certain news presented nowadays were severely distorted and fabricated,” said Ahirudin, who is the veteran journalist known for his posts on the blog Rocky’s Bru.
Having worked with the The New Straits Times Press Berhad (NSTP) for 21 years and several other print media such as The Malay Mail, Business Times and The Sunday Mail, he observed that it is indeed not easy for news organizations these days because they must always deal with somehow raw and unverified information.
When asked if too many restrictions on social media would undermine press freedom, Ahirudin remarked: “While it is true that strict restrictions on social media would dampen the freedom of expression, but it should be noted that there must always be limits.”
“This is because unverified news – some of them were half-truths and outright lies can mislead the readers as well as the society at large… and this is an example of poor journalism,” he added, echoing the thoughts of the former IGP.
Sometimes, social media is an abused mass information dissemination tool which is often but not always, based on hearsay and not on any tangible evidence. In fact, this can underpin distorted news, many of which are merely half-truths, lies and speculation but nevertheless leads to a suspicion that an ulterior motive may be at play.
As Edward De Bono, a Maltese physician and author, once so aptly put it, “There's a danger in the internet and social media. The notion that information is enough, that more and more information is enough, that you don't have to think, you just have to get more information – gets very dangerous.”
Let’s choose wisely on what we read, share and spread online.fe
- Published on Tuesday, 22 September 2015 08:00
- Written by Teh Wei Soon
EACH day, billions of users access social media sites to post news and share their thoughts, including over 15 million Malaysians, according to a 2013 Industry Performance Report published by Internet regulator, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC).
The survey went on to provide the statistics that 64% of the Malaysian population have access to social media. That means over half of the nation's residents do have some interaction with social media.
So, is it safe to assume that what they post, share and issues trending on social media are actual events and opinions in the real world making their way into social media conversation?
If you are an avid user of social media, it would not have escaped your notice that social protest is becoming increasingly prevalent online.
A study carried out in 2011 by the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA looked at the way young people use Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and blogs – in relation to political issues.
They identified a phenomenon where people who are already engaged in social protest in the real world tend to use social media channels to obtain or relay information on the issues from their more active use as a ‘soapbox’ to express personal social or political views. They then sought to correlate such online behaviour with offline, real-world political engagement.
In actual fact, the 'noise' on social media is generated by the same handful of people who are equally vocal in real life and it is amplified by the rapid spread of information online.
A Case Of Noisy Minority vs Silent Majority
Two recent examples in politics seem to underscore this observation.
At the recent elections held in Singapore earlier this month, the electoral campaigns that were waged online had led analysts to predict that the results would show big gains for the Opposition as for the first time in the island republic's history, the combined opposition parties contested in every single constituency.
Yet, when the results were announced, the ruling People Action's Party returned with sweeping victory, winning 83 of 89 seats on offer, proving analysts who depended on indications shown on social media wrong.
In fact, the same happened with the UK elections earlier this year when social media got it wrong about how the majority of the British would vote. Social media was awash with pro-Labour sentiment which did not translate to the real world, leading to a complete washout for them at the polls and a surprise victory for the Conservatives with a jubilant comeback for Prime Minister David Cameron.
Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Salleh Said Keruak had touched on this 'noisy minority, silent majority' phenomena when he wrote in his blog on September 12.
“There is a phrase used in United States politics: the noisy minority and the silent majority. Basically this means while a small group of people may be making so much noise, shouting and demonstrating, there is a bigger group that remains silent and demonstrates its support or otherwise at the ballot box.
“There may be thousands marching and screaming and demonstrating its displeasure. But there may be an even larger group that has no issues and do not share the views of this minority group of noisy protestors.
“Politicians do not fear that noisy minority. What they fear is the silent majority because one never knows what the silent majority is thinking and what they will do come Polling Day,” he wrote.
If we are to put that same theory to test in the Malaysian arena, this brings up the question whether all the negative sentiment clouding the economic, political and social spheres is more pronounced online, churned by a decidedly disproportionate 'noisy' minority?
If we are to follow social media trends in Malaysia for the past few months, it appears that the government, its leaders and financial institutions are in dire straits.
Earlier on June this year, both the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) and the Sarawak Report, had accused a group of companies linked to state fund 1Malaysian Development Bhd (1MDB) of sensationalized financial irregularities which captured the imagination and fascination of local and international media.
To rub salt into the wound, just a fortnight ago, Al Jazeera had aired an investigative documentary on the once highly controversial and entangled Altantuya Shaariibuu saga which has cast a shadow over Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's leadership, largely due to continued speculation and wild conspiracy theories that are kept alive by social media.
If we are to judge by the amount of bad press circulating on social media, it would appear our government is on the brink of collapse and its leadership in tatters but recent events point to the contrary.
While the Internet offers considerable scope to spread political views, people may not actually be spurred to take part in real-world protest activity by information circulating on the social media.
How much attention should we pay for real time events shared via social media, even if the facts are not yet verified — or is it better to wait until the sources have been confirmed and and announcement made by authorized sources before arriving at a conclusion?
Know How To Differentiate Between Truth And Lies
According to Human Rights Watch, Malaysia is a country where the government acts with impunity, persecutes opposition voices, and controls most levers of power.
Be that as it may, the fact that those baseless allegations with misleading statements even emerged suggests that the political discourse in Malaysia is becoming far more open than previously perceived – partly due to the proliferation of social media – especially socio-political websites.
Tan Sri Musa Hassan is the former Inspector-General of Police (IGP) “Social media has increasingly become an alternative platform used to deliver news and information due to the advancement in information technology, but there must always be balance because sometimes it is misused as a medium to spread lies and animosity.”
That was the view shared by former Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Musa Hassan (pic) when contacted by Malaysian Digest to comment on the matter.
“Yes, it is with no doubt that social media helps to deliver useful information to the people, but we need to be cautious as it is sometimes being misused for some wrong reasons. When social media is misused, people will be fed by untruths and misleading statements. When this happens, they will not be able to differentiate between truth and untruth,” said Musa.
Referring to the recent steps taken by the authorities to block some websites which spread sensitive and unverified news, he remarked: “This has nothing to do with the so-called ‘interference’ but more to the efforts to ensure the news presented [to the readers] are fair and balanced.”
“In view of this, news organisations should be responsible in delivering any information. Put simply, they must not manipulate the news. They should take responsibility for the information they provide,” he said, adding that some of the news reports were in fact baseless smears and politically motivated with no solid evidence.
Musa, however, added: “The general public has every right to access to the social media as they should be adequately informed on the current issues”, urging media professionals to abide by responsible journalism.
Do Not Get Trapped In The War Of Perception
Prime Minister Najib Razak had, in many occasions, expressed regret and stressed that allegations and slanders hurled against him were politically motivated as it was an attempt from the opposition to unseat him and topple his government, saying that he was prepared to receive constructive criticisms but "would not stay quiet or compromise if wild allegations that were baseless were being hurled at his family."
Universiti Sains Malaysia political analyst Associate Professor Dr Sivamurugan Pandian (pic) asserted that the role of social media is to disseminate useful and reliable information to the readers instead of spreading the unverified ones. Associate Professor Dr Sivamurugan Pandian is a political analyst from Universiti Sains Malaysia
Associate Professor Dr Sivamurugan Pandian is a political analyst from Universiti Sains Malaysia
“Social media plays a significant role in building trust and confidence among the readers, but there is no denying that their roles have become more complex these days. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the readers to verify the authenticity of the information to avoid falling into the war of perceptions,” he told Malaysian Digest when contacted.
Commenting on the MCMC’s recent moves to block several websites for spreading ‘sensitive’ news, Dr Sivamurugan opined that they should instead verify the truth and authenticity behind the headlines before censoring them.
“To ensure that whatever action [the authorities concerned] made does not backfire, they must disclose the rationality behind their decisions,” he said, adding that the authorities concerned must also always educate the readers when it comes to reading news online.
“It is unfair to say all social media disseminate baseless, unverified news. The key point here is the readers themselves. They should try to rationalise and seek the truth on whatever they read on news portal, blog, Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms,” stressed Dr Sivamurugan.
News On Social Media Requires One To Apply Self-Censorship
Contacted last Friday, political blogger Datuk Ahirudin Attan (pic), widely known as Rocky Bru, asserted that although it is unfair to view social media as an anti-government platform due to its diversified users – since they come from all age groups, but social media is, in fact, a bad substitute for genuine and real journalism.
“It is the nature of human to read and search for something ‘sensational’, usually via online news sites. Take, the recent reports by Sarawak Report on 1MDB fiasco for example, it had without doubt gripped the attention of local and international media attention. However, the methods taken were downright unethical as the reports were not been backed by solid evidence.
Datuk Ahirudin Attan is a political blogger, veteran journalist and former editor of several publications“Very often, poorly reported news often relies on unsubstantiated information. This is the reason why certain news presented nowadays were severely distorted and fabricated,” said Ahirudin, who is the veteran journalist known for his posts on the blog Rocky’s Bru.
Having worked with the The New Straits Times Press Berhad (NSTP) for 21 years and several other print media such as The Malay Mail, Business Times and The Sunday Mail, he observed that it is indeed not easy for news organizations these days because they must always deal with somehow raw and unverified information.
When asked if too many restrictions on social media would undermine press freedom, Ahirudin remarked: “While it is true that strict restrictions on social media would dampen the freedom of expression, but it should be noted that there must always be limits.”
“This is because unverified news – some of them were half-truths and outright lies can mislead the readers as well as the society at large… and this is an example of poor journalism,” he added, echoing the thoughts of the former IGP.
Sometimes, social media is an abused mass information dissemination tool which is often but not always, based on hearsay and not on any tangible evidence. In fact, this can underpin distorted news, many of which are merely half-truths, lies and speculation but nevertheless leads to a suspicion that an ulterior motive may be at play.
As Edward De Bono, a Maltese physician and author, once so aptly put it, “There's a danger in the internet and social media. The notion that information is enough, that more and more information is enough, that you don't have to think, you just have to get more information – gets very dangerous.”
Let’s choose wisely on what we read, share and spread online.
