KUALA LUMPUR: Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi yesterday urged the public to make social media a platform for healthy dialogue and exchange of accurate information.
To maintain peace in our multicultural nation, he said, the public should not promote divisive and slanderous posts in social media.
“Social media and Internet users should be more cautious and concerned with the news spread.
“It is important to verify whether the news reported is true before you share what you have read on social media,” Ahmad Zahid said when opening the 11th Pacific Asia Communication Association Conference 2016 at Universiti Putra Malaysia here yesterday.
The text of his speech was read out by Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Dr Salleh Said Keruak.
Ahmad Zahid said the sharing of inaccurate news or information could cause uneasiness and tension especially in a culturally diversified society like Malaysia.
“There have been cases of abuse of social media where people use it to slander and spread unfounded and unreliable news, purposely leaving out important and factual details to shed a different light on the news,” he said.
The four-day conference with the theme “Future Paradigm Of Asia: Culture, Communication and Integration” is attended by about 200 lecturers and students from Asean countries, the United States and South Korea. — Bernama