MCMC receives only 16 complaints as social media stays calm during Negeri Sembilan state election campaign, says Fahmi.
JEMPOL: Social media activity during the campaign for the Negeri Sembilan state election has remained largely under control, with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) receiving only 16 complaints since campaigning began.
Communications Minister Datuk Seri Fahmi Fadzil said 14 of the complaints were related to telecommunications network issues, while the remaining two involved fake social media accounts.
All the complaints are being handled by MCMC.
He urged the public to report content believed to violate election regulations or social media platform guidelines to the respective platform operators, and to lodge a complaint with MCMC if no action is taken.
“Today is the sixth day of campaigning, with about seven or eight days remaining. So far, the situation on social media appears to be under control.
“However, the final 72 to 96 hours usually see a surge in online activity from various parties. We hope there will not be a flood of false information, especially during those critical final days,” he said after the Ziarah Kasih MADANI programme at Felda Palong 1 here today, which was also attended by Pakatan Harapan’s Jeram Padang candidate G. Manivannan.
On internet connectivity, Fahmi said a visit to Felda Palong 1 found that coverage issues were mainly along the main access roads leading to the settlement, rather than within the residential area itself.
He said MCMC had been instructed to address the problem urgently, as poor connectivity not only affected communications but could also pose a safety risk during emergencies.
“I found that the issue is not the internet coverage within the Felda settlement itself, but along the main roads leading to the various schemes. I have asked for the matter to be addressed immediately as this should not be happening.
“The basic principle is that wherever there is a road, there should be internet access,” he said.
Fahmi said that although telecommunications companies signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on network sharing last year, implementation had yet to progress quickly enough to resolve coverage issues in populated areas.
Among the solutions identified are the construction of new telecommunications towers, optimisation of existing infrastructure and the use of satellite services such as Starlink as an interim measure.
He added that telecommunications companies had also been asked to improve their customer feedback systems, including by leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) to enable users to check the status of their complaints.
Polling takes place on Aug 1, with early voting on July 28.
