PETALING JAYA: Online campaigning has gone nasty in the run-up to the May 5 general election with cyber troopers from both sides of the political divide going beyond mudslinging at times.
The fight tends to get ugly with vulgar words used freely, sometimes crossing the boundary of racial and religious sensitivity as rival cyber troopers vie to influence public perception.
Both Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat have accused each other of paying cyber troopers to attack their opponents on social networks.
One example which a non-governmental organisation complained about was the case of pro-opposition cyber troopers uploading a photograph of a woman online last month accompanied by harsh and vulgar comments.
The woman, who is a committee member of the Malaysian Youth Rights Movement, was also threatened with gangrape and murder over her stand on some issues.
Deputy Higher Education Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah condemned the strategies being employed by cyber troopers, saying “they put too much focus on attack”.
“In the long run, these strategies won’t work. The people will start reading these comments and say you are insulting my intelligence’,” said Saifuddin.
Outgoing Jelutong MP Jeff Ooi denies that there are cyber troopers on his party’s payroll, and called for politicians to make a stand against the current tactics employed by cyber activists.
“We (politicians) should not be seen to be condoning abusive commentaries. We have to call a spade a spade. If it were to come from my party, we would have to put them under restraint,” said Ooi.
Supt Ahmad Noordin Ismail from the cyber crime department of the police’s Commercial Crime Unit said nabbing cyber troopers and cyber bullies can be complicated due to a lack of evidence.
“People can make these comments and remove them easily,” he said.
Digital News Asia executive editor A. Asohan said he expected the mud-slinging, and warned that things would get worse as polling day nears.
“The real dirty play will come from the Internet. You will see a lot of accusations flying back and forth while paid bloggers will go on the warpath,” he added.
However, he believed people are smarter these days and would not be easily taken in by what was being posted on Websites.
MCA Youth new media bureau head Neil Foo agreed that it was not a healthy trend for both sides to have a go at each other in an unruly manner.
He said he always reminded the MCA cyber warriors and supporters to be polite, argue based on facts and not be too emotional.
He admitted that there are some who got carried away when egged on by other cyber troopers.
“I’ll ask them to watch the words they use. There should not be any vulgarity or personal attacks. They should stick to the facts,” he said.
Action can be taken against people who post offensive comments online, Kuala Lumpur Bar IT committee chairman Foong Cheng Leong said.
Under Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act, those found guilty of harassing or being offensive online can be fined a maximum of RM50,000 or jailed up to a year or both, he noted.
The same clause also provides that a further fine of RM1,000 can be levied daily during which the offence is continued after conviction.
Foong strongly felt that “while people are free to express their opinions, they should not defame or attack others maliciously”.
Universiti Sains Malaysia psychologist Dr Geshina Ayu Mat Saat said cyber bullies, who preyed on their victims often perceived they had the right to bully.
“They have this sense of entitlement, whereby their way is the best and people should follow them. Their perception is also very lopsided based on their own personal experience and expectations,” she said yesterday.
Dr Geshina Ayu said these bullies were more daring online as they felt that they could get away with it.
“But they failed to realise they are bound by the law, even online,” she said.
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