IN the hands of extremists, social media is a potent and dangerous tool and platform for propagating and inciting ideological, racial and religious sentiments which can lead to violent outcomes.
In Malaysia, the ethno-religious peddlers and merchants have been deftly and cynically manipulating base/primordial sentiments using social media, especially on TikTok and Twitter.
TikTok has become popular among young Malaysians due to the nature of its content messaging in the form of short video postings. We saw that not only during the 15th general election (GE15) campaign, especially near polling day but even in the run up.
Youths were the especial target audience, (“Racially motivated videos on TikTok targeting children – PH leaders, parents want it stopped”, New Straits Times, Nov 22, 2022). And many of the perpetrators were the youths themselves.
Communications studies scholar (based in the US) Dr Nuurrianti Jalil is currently writing a book detailing the experience of TikTok usage in the context of GE15 in November last year, to be published by Ateneo Policy Centre, Ateneo University, the Philippines in 2024.
In her analysis of 679 videos, with over 1,000 views, Nuurrianti found 373 containing hateful narratives and propaganda, (“How TikTok became a breeding ground for hate speech in the latest Malaysia general-election”, Nuurrianti Jalil, Conversation, March 23).
It is through social media that politicians gain “new ground” to expand their electoral and support base, particularly in relation to what is known as the, hitherto, untapped politically virgin and unfamiliar/uninitiated constituency of young voters who are newly enfranchised.
As it is, the widening of the electoral enfranchisement has taken place as a result of the “Undi18” policy initiative, which lowered the constitutional and legal age of voting from 21 to 18 by way of Section 3(a) as operationalised via the automatic voter registration mechanism under Section 3(b) of the Constitutional (Amendment) Act (2019), which amended Article 119 of the Federal Constitution.
The brainwashing and what would also tantamount to indoctrination at a new level, especially youngsters, not only will reinforce the siege mentality (mentaliti terkepung) but represent a blatant attempt to subvert the nation-building process and “convert” or “reshape” the target audience’s worldview into the mould of a supremacist, which will also ensure that they carry on the “struggle” as the next generation.
In short, these politicians deploy social media to peddle, hustle and tout a narrative that is contrary to the fundamental concept of Malaysia and what it means to be Malaysian, as defined and circumscribed by our Federal Constitution as the highest law of the land.
Social media is employed as a powerful filter and paradigm by which to view the world and interpret real-world dynamics or reality, so that everything is reduced/reducible to the twin lens of race and religion.
For the youth, social media thereby functions like virtual reality. Arguably, their worldview is fundamentally dependent – “stands or falls” – on what they have been fed through social media.
It is basically no different with the situation in the US, for example, where the ultra-right base can only understand and conceive reality through the alt-right conspiracy theories, such as the Great Replacement, as peddled by the “conservative” talk show hosts.
And, just as critically, these youngsters become the proselytisers, using social media to propagate and incite others just as they have been impacted. Thus, social media at the hands of the ethno-religious extremists is harmful to the nation-building process as it impairs the establishment of a Malaysian identity founded on the dynamic balance as encapsulated in our Federal Constitution.
In short, social media can also be a tool to deepen divisions and the polarisation in our society, and sustain the tension that exists, where reality can be interpreted in two diametrically opposite ways.
The brouhaha over the “Jom Ziarah Gereja” programme under the auspices of the Youth and Sports Ministry is a salient example, whereby it was twisted to imply Christian evangelism on the part of Minister Hannah Yeoh.
If the situation is not controlled, it could spill over into acts of violence. Decisive and swift action should be taken against both the keyboard warriors and the speakers in the videos, alongside their paymasters.
The Home Ministry and the police should not give any allowance. Instead, the affirmation that no compromise will be given must be translated into concrete action to pre-empt the others and also to reassure the nation as a whole.
We should emulate Singapore in this regard which is ever ready to clamp down on any party posting comments or videos which can jeopardise and threaten societal harmony.
Concrete examples would be where cybertroopers (“cytros”) dehumanise/ demean/denigrate others who are not of the same race and religion or threaten violence and engage in cyberbullying.
What should be done is to set the confines and boundaries as embodied by the three “Rs” of race, religion and royalty. The government via the Communications and Digital Ministry is proposing to amend the Communications and Multimedia Act (1998) and the Communications and Multimedia Commission Act (1998) to strengthen, enhance and clarify the regulatory framework.
Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil is on the right track in updating and firming up the regulatory framework to combat the continuing pernicious influence and impact of the exploitation of 3 “Rs” in the country.
This should portend and signal the unity government’s firm commitment under Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to combat subversive elements that threaten the nation’s peace and harmony, including undermining political stability post-GE15.
While the vibes from social media platforms that were deployed in the run-up to and during GE15 are now behind us, the “scarring effect” remains.
It behooves the police to constantly warn the public, including the youths, against anti-national and anti-Malaysian views and concomitantly the recording and uploading of seditious and inflammatory materials, which are often either hyper-exaggerated out of proportion or blatantly false and untruthful.
The government and the police must continue to be vigilant against such threats and constantly monitor social media platforms in collaboration with the providers to ensure that such contents are removed immediately and the creator traced and arrested.
The Bar Council has called for a National Harmony and Reconciliation Bill as well as a Hate Crimes Bill to be passed by parliament.
Moving forward, it is vital that laws in addition to the Sedition Act (1948) and the Penal Code be “updated” and enhanced and complemented. This is so that the government can also deflect criticism that it is using the aforesaid two pre-existing criminal laws to politically and selectively prosecute the instigators.
The government should also enlist the public in the fight against extremism on social media. In this, the public are indeed the frontliners. The public must be encouraged to report seditious contents, which would clearly and unambiguously come under the parametres and metrics of the rules and regulations as embodied by the “community standards”.
Raising sensitive issues are usually done with a malicious intent unless it is clear that the purpose is to redress legitimate grievances or to seek a proper balance between competing interests.
Where necessary, police reports should also be made, as is already the case being a part of our Malaysian “culture”, and accompanied by a memorandum to the Home minister to press and pressure for concrete and tough action.
By right, the Home minister should have a statutory duty to act swiftly and decisively where sensitive issues are raised with the intention to exploit racial and religious sentiments, which could cause tensions to rise and resulting in the tearing of our social fabric.
Perhaps this is one area, i.e. the statutory duty concerned, which could be incorporated into a future legislation, such as the National Harmony and Reconciliation Act.
At the same time, the police must also have a statutory duty imposed on them to act on complaints, e.g. against hate preachers who use social media to reach out to their audience because of their dangerous peddling of untruths against others.
The state religious authorities should also act against these hate preachers because their understanding is deviant/out of context and besmirch the sanctity and reputation of Islam.
During the Pakatan Harapan administration, the minister in charge of Islamic affairs at the federal level, Datuk Seri Mujahid Yusor Rawa, had been a strong and vocal proponent of the legislative trio of an Anti-Discrimination Act, a National Harmony and Reconciliation Commission Act and a Religious and Racial Hatred Act.
On hindsight and moving forward, such legislations are indeed now more needed than ever and would complete the wider legislative framework, which also specifically encompasses the technical coverage of the multimedia and, by inclusion, social media platforms.
In an Emir Research article, “Do We Need a Race Relations Act”? (Dec 18, 2019), it was mentioned that we also need a new national narrative that has and is given constitutional weight, i.e. solidly grounded in our Federal Constitution and the Rukunegara. That is “what is implicit must now be made explicit”.
Towards that end, there should be a preamble to our Federal Constitution, which outlines the social contract as shaped by the historical legacy and raison detre of the nation’s identity and existence.
To complement and supplement the national narrative, there must be the creation of a national pledge, following in the footsteps of Singapore.
Just as the preamble comes at the beginning, so the National Pledge comes at the end, like two pillars reinforcing and bolstering the constitutional superstructure and infrastructure.
Jason Loh Seong Wei is Head of Social, Law & Human Rights at Emir Research, an independent think tank focused on strategic policy recommendations based on rigorous research. Comments: letters@thesundaily.com.
