CYBERJAYA, March 14 ― The government today introduced a new portal that ostensibly allows the public to corroborate information online and control the spread of “fake news”.
The portal named sebenarnya.my (the name translates to Actually in English) was launched at the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) headquarters here today.
The portal is tasked with evaluating issues and reports online and cataloguing these as either “authentic” or “fake”.
The commission will work with other government agencies to verify news, but said it also welcomes submissions from the public.
Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Dr Salleh Said Keruak said that the portal is not being launched for the next general election.
“Even opposition parties, if they feel certain fake news is being spread about them, they can submit it to this portal. This portal is for Malaysians, not the government,” he said.
Putrajaya has repeatedly expressed concerns about the advent of social media, which allows unverified or fake information to spread rapidly.
