BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN: Members of the public have called on relevant authorities to come up with legislation to curb baseless information from being spread through social media, Borneo Bulletin reported.
With the market flooded with smartphones and tablets that nicely fit into pockets, information is readily available anytime, anywhere and though the upside of what is known as civilian journalism includes being kept abreast of current happenings in the country, a handful of information that are spread through mediums such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and WhatsApp have been found to be false and the consequences are a cause of concern for the authority.
A number of ‘twitterattis’ contacted by the Borneo Bulletin have said that members of the Royal Brunei Police Force (RBPF) should be given more powers to go after individuals who spread rumours that can potentially harm the public peace.
“All we need is one prosecution,” said one regular tweeter. “Only then will things change.”
Despite the fact that Brunei does have laws that can help prosecute those who are found guilty of spreading false information, what apparently ties down the hands of law enforcers is the unwillingness by members of the public to lodge complaints against such rumours.
Under Brunei’s law, an individual can be charged under two laws. Under the Public Order Act, Chapter 148 for the dissemination of false report, “Any person who, whether orally or in writing or by any other means, spreads false or makes false statements likely to cause public alarm and despondency shall be guilty of an offence,” and the penalty includes imprisonment for three years and a fine of $3,000.
The second charge is under the Penal Code, Chapter 22 for intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace that reads: “Whoever makes, publishes, or circulates any statement, rumour or report with the intent to cause, or which is likely to cause, fear or alarm to the public, or to any section of the public whereby any person may be induced to commit an offence against Brunei Darussalam or against the public tranquillity” can be punished with imprisonment for up to five years and an undisclosed fine.
In an interview with spokespersons from the Royal Brunei Police Force (RBPF), Ag DSP Pg Haji Abdul Salam and Insp Pg Haji Yusra, they said the force has noticed a rise in the use of social media as a means to disseminate information and though they believe the intentions are genuine when it comes to sharing, the consequences of spreading information, especially if untrue, needs to be taken into serious consideration.
They believe that the reason behind the high volume of information is attributed to two things: technology as well as the excitement of being able to share what they have learned notwithstanding its authenticity.
Among the information that the RBPF has received, along with a majority of the people living in Brunei, include those that have the potential to cause widespread public panic such as the alleged story of a child kidnapped from Jerudong Park as well as the alleged brawl in the capital that was found to be misleading and false as well as content that are immoral and threatening. The preferred application, they pointed out, is the popular cross-platform mobile messaging app WhatsApp attributed to its low-cost use.
“This affects everyday activities and the movement of individuals become disrupted,” they said referring to the fact that those who receive false information needlessly have to alter their day-to-day operations and this can be an inconvenience.
Even more worrying, they pointed out, is the ‘the boy who cried wolf’ dilemma whereby when false information saturates the community, people will eventually doubt information that is true and this could lead to an even bigger crisis.
Apart from just sharing messages, the people of Brunei have started using photo sharing platforms to share what they have seen and though this can be useful for many including the police, the dark side of it is that some photos that are shared could be sensitive in nature such as the circulation of graphic images of the early-morning crash in Jerudong as well as the photos of two alleged thieves who were yet to be brought to court.
“The actions of people who spread this kind of information can be considered as defamatory” and Brunei’s legislation allows for people who share such information to be prosecuted. “A person’s identity is confidential,” the RBPF spokespersons stressed and such sharing is a breach of one’s privacy.
“Our concern is that this can become pervasive” in that the public could potentially misuse the privilege of being able to get in touch with who they choose to. “If this is abused, it then becomes a criminal offence.”
Should the public have any concerns with regards to any information they have received, they should contact the relevant parties, including the RBPF at any of their stations, to receive an accurate response.
“The question goes back to which is better: Informing a friend who in turn informs others or informing the police so that they can take action?”
As part of their service, the RBPF is obligated to investigate these rumours “whether fake or otherwise. We cannot ignore any case no matter the size” at the risk of compromising human resource that could go into investigating cases that are real.
The RBPF has a dedicated unit to monitor activities such as these and as this posses a new kind of challenge, the force is doing its best “to cope with the change”.
“We are looking to surmount this and make new plans such as training the staff and in the next few years, we predict even more challenges but what is important is the way we respond to them, how to cope and how to prepare,” said Ag DSP Pg Haji Abdul Salam and Insp Pg Haji Yusra.