KUALA LUMPUR: They started out as government fact-checking portals but Sebenarnya.my and MyCheck Malaysia will now have a bigger role to play – they will deal with the rising misinformation in the country.

The portals are also set to be beefed up and should not be run on a skeleton crew, said Fahmi Fadzil.

“These two units are part of JomCheck (network) which in the lead-up to GE15 had helped to do some fact-checking on things that were published. I have asked for these units to work hand in hand along with JomCheck and the corporate communication units of other ministries,” said the Communications and Digital Minister.

“In case something comes up (information), we will alert, revert and disseminate whether it is true or false,” he said in an exclusive interview with The Star.

Sebenarnya.My was launched in 2017 as a unit under the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) while MyCheck.My is under national news agency, Bernama.

Fahmi said the roles of these units can be further strengthened. “I feel their role can be much better coordinated and the unit strengthened,” he said when asked how effective a tool the Sebenarnya.my portal was in quashing misinformation.

“Both Sebenarnya.my and MyCheck are within the JomCheck network and I think the entire network has to be strengthened. We are getting too many complaints about fake news or misinformation being shared,” he added.

Fahmi said most of the misinformation circulated was related to mundane matters such as extra Sumbangan Tunai Rahmah aid.

“Information like that will be directed to the Finance Ministry (MOF) to confirm, verify or disprove. There was also someone who posted in a Facebook group recently that teachers of Kafa, or religious classes, were not getting the increment they had been promised. When we checked with MOF, they said the money had been disbursed and these institutions are managed at the state level,” he said.

Checks were then done at the state level.

“We alerted the MOF and the Religious Affairs Minister to confirm and verify things like that,” he added.

Sometimes, he said, information was spun from the truth.

“A case in point was this allegation that I am shutting down TikTok accounts. I have done no such thing. I have not asked for a single account to be deleted or banned,” he said, adding that people are bound to have their accounts suspended if they say something that should not be said on social media as such platforms have their own community guidelines.

“All these platforms have their own community guidelines and artificial intelligence (tools). It is not me, it is you – by that, I mean the people who are making these allegations. If you produce content that runs afoul of or flouts the community guidelines, TikTok or Facebook or whichever platform will take action,” he added.

On the unit established to monitor the 3R (race, religion and royalty) issues raised during the election season, Fahmi said the unit will be up and running before the polls.

The ministry had a meeting on the matter on Tuesday, he said. Another meeting will be held with the police, MCMC and ministry. “We are also reaching out to social media platform operators, particularly Meta (which operates Facebook) and TikTok. This is not about politics. This is about law and order and public safety to ensure that 3R issues do not run rampant.

“Right now, there are units within my ministry, the MCMC and Bukit Aman, but we want better coordination and sharing of resources of intelligence or information so more comprehensive action can be taken,” he added.

Nomination day for the six state polls in Kedah, Terengganu, Kelantan, Penang, Selangor and Negri Sembilan is scheduled for July 29 while polling is fixed for Aug 12.