JUNE 13 — Was too busy and ill to promote last week’s column but it seems that Umno’s cybertroopers did it for me.
Thus began quite the online debate about the national language, whether or not it should be called the national language when “national language” is a loaded term and whether I secretly want to be white as well as my blonde (not anymore!) hair.
Funnily the first question everyone asked was: “Har? Still got money to pay them arr?”
Whether or not someone is bankrolling the likes of the MyPatriots site, it seems that the cyber right-wing unit is prepared once again for a war of online propaganda.
To be honest, I’m used to it. The only reason I was spared a lot of vitriol the last couple of years, when I was a magnet for it prior, was because my sister worked with the former Sports Minister and Umno Youth head.
The dude was my sister’s boss so I made a point not to comment publicly about him because my sister had a rough enough time working for the government: Being called a sell-out and also having to deal with ruder members of Umno Youth.
While I can brush off the abuse (I’ve been getting hate mail and terrible comments on my other social media platforms), it may not be as easy to deal with for other people.
Cybertroopers are basically Internet attack dogs — they hunt in packs, they give no quarter and have no restraint.
Of course it helps that most of them hide behind online identities though some of them aren’t very good at masking their footprints — a little Googling and IP tracing helped me track one of my cyberattackers and I now know how to direct the cops to his address.
If you thought the onslaught of Umno’s relentless propaganda stopped after the election, it seems you are wrong. After licking their wounds, they’re back. Perhaps smaller in number, perhaps less well-funded, but the now Opposition party still has online clout and is already targetting members of the Cabinet as well as our prime minister.
What then can be done? Does this mean we should rethink getting rid of the Fake News law? I don’t think so.
We live in times where greater freedom of speech and media is now possible — overzealous tampering with that would be bad. But let us also remember that it was thanks to the likes of Facebook, Donald Trump gained perhaps far more traction than he would have. In a world without social media, I believe Trump would not have won.
Like it or not, I think Pakatan Harapan will need to muster its own forces — perhaps using existing laws to prevent the dissemination of false information and hate speech.
It’s a tricky balance between creating room for self-expression without letting one side gain the upper hand because it lacks scruples.
In the meantime, I’m going to resubscribe to a VPN, ensure my websites and social media accounts are properly secured (two-factor authentication and all that) and maybe send MyPatriots a thank-you note for increasing my already five-figure Twitter follower count.
*This is the personal opinion of the columnist.
