Ismail Sabri speaks at the press conference. — Bernama photo
PUTRAJAYA: Deleting fake news posts about Covid-19 on social media and then apologising will not get you off the hook.
That is Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s stern warning to the public because there are irresponsible individuals who are still spreading fake news while frontliners are doing their best to combat the Covid-19 pandemic.
“I am issuing a reminder to all those who have uploaded fake news and deleted their postings after they went viral.
“We recently heard about an individual who posted fake news and then deleted it and apologised, but I understand the police have nevertheless called up the individual concerned for questioning,” he said at a press conference here yesterday on developments relating to the enforcement of the ongoing Movement Control Order (MCO) to contain Covid-19.
The minister said the police would continue to take action irregardless of whether fake news was uploaded onto social media, media portals and such.
“If these incidents occur, the police will not compromise. Once again, I request, please do not do things which can get you in trouble,” he stressed.
Ismail Sabri said the police and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) had opened as many as 217 investigation papers in connection with the dissemination of fake news on Covid-19.
He said this included 162 investigations which were still underway, while 23 individuals had been charged in court with four pleading guilty.
On other matters, the minister said although it was not Malaysia’s policy to prevent its citizens overseas from returning home, the government nevertheless would look at ensuring that the number of citizens wishing to come back to Malaysia was a manageable figure.
In this connection, the Human Resources Ministry has had discussions with its Singaporean counterpart to ensure that if the repatriation of Malaysian workers from Singapore is to be allowed, it would be undertaken in phases.
“If there are say 20,000 workers in Singapore who wish to return home, perhaps we can manage … in terms of entries in phases, about 250 to 300 a day so that we are ready in terms of
quarantine centres and such,” he said.
On average, Ismail Sabri said the daily numbers indicated that about 1,900 to 2,000 Malaysians crossed the border from Singapore every day, with 90 per cent of such entries comprising individuals involved in logistics services comprising the delivery of fresh goods and food from Malaysia to Singapore and vice versa.
In other developments, the minister said so far, a total of 176 quarantine centres were operational and 13,528 individuals were undergoing mandatory quarantine at these centres.
These individuals included 593 people who returned to Malaysia on Monday. -— Bernama