Business rivals and political foes have been known to undermine each other by manipulating information and data in the media.
Some players in the media industry, badly hit by shrinking advertisement revenue and competition from social media, have resorted to launching ‘attacks’ against certain brands or individuals, in exchange for money.
President of the National Press Club of Malaysia, Datuk Ahirudin Attan, said this has resulted in character assassination, which was now rampant and difficult to address.
“This is because the media being used to launch such attacks are not owned by publicly known businessmen, political entities, or individuals. Some of them are owned by those who remain in the shadows,” said Ahirudin.
“Today, media outlets are basically owned by anyone who has access to the Internet.”
He cited the ‘attack’ against former Attorney-General (AG) Tan Sri Tommy Thomas, as an example.
“An outfit, that has presence on Twitter and Telegram, used whatever little information it had with regards to the drug charges against a tycoon’s son, to suggest that the former AG was corrupt, or at the very least, complicit.
“Thomas denied the accusations, but the damage had already been done.”
He also expressed concern that shrinking advertisement revenues and pressure from social media platforms had forced established media organisations to resort to such tactics.
“This makes the proposed national Media Council even more relevant. This can also be addressed if media organisations themselves agree that they need to uphold credibility, and place truth above ad ringgit and sponsorships.”
He admitted it was easier said than done, as the setting up of the Media Council had yet to take off, despite it being in the talks for four decades.
“But we mustn’t give up and give in. Set up the Media Council, let’s work with cyber security experts to train journalists so that we are aware of how information and data can be manipulated to win contracts and kill off the competition,” he added.
Ahirudin said this after attending the Malaysia Global Business Forum (MGBF) roundtable on ‘Addressing Weaponised Information in the Media’ last Thursday. He was invited as a speaker at the event.
The discussion centred on cyber threats that caused physical and reputational losses.
Other speakers included Anwer Yusoff, Head of Department (Cyber Security Industry Engagement and Collaboration) at CyberSecurity Malaysia, Dr Kavitha Muthy, chief strategy officer of Intellize Tech Services, Amitabh Srivastava, practice director (cyber security) and CISO of Abyres Holdings Sdn Bhd, and Vicks Kanagasingam, chief executive officer of Censof Digital.
