Communications Minister Ahmad Shabery Chik has urged netizens to be sceptical with rumours spreading over the Internet regarding the fate of the missing MAS flight MH370.
 
"This (misinformation) will happen every day and I ask the people not be quick to believe in what is on the Internet and other (sources).
 
"The internet has good things, but it has rubbish too," he said.
 
He also urged people not to speculate on the matter and leave it to the professionals, since the speculation would be 'painful' for those seeking information about what happened to their loved one aboard the missing aircraft.
 
He said this when visiting the media centre at Sama-Sama Hotel near KLIA, where crisis management operations are being handled, and he was asked whether action would be taken against those spreading the rumours.
 
He replied that the ministry would not be able get any 'real work' done if it were to go after the rumourmongers, and reiterated his call for greater caution when dealing with information on the Interet.
 
He added that the reason the ministry had set up the media centre so that latest and most accurate information can be disseminated quickly.
 
Ahmad Shabery also pointed out that search and rescue operations are difficult, and even developed nations faced difficulties during the Air France Flight 447 tragedy.
 
Flight 447 had vanished without any distress call somewhere between South America and Africa in June 2009, and its wreck was only found two years later.
 
When asked if the comparison if the comparison of MH370 to Flight 447 was appropriate since the search for Flight 447 was conducted over a much larger body of water, Shabery declined to comment, saying that he was not an expert on the matter.