Ministry ready to aid probe over ‘false 1MDB info’
The Communication and Multimedia Ministry is ready to cooperate with the authorities to aid the investigation into the dissemination of alleged false information on 1MDB by a former PetroSaudi International (PSI) staff detained in Thailand yesterday.
Minister Ahmad Shabery Cheek said the former executive, a Swiss national, had created a negative perception of the government as people regarded anything on the Internet as the truth.
“This has caused a lot of uneasiness among Malaysians and created in the people a negative perception of the government,” he told reporters at the lobby of Parliament House in Kula Lumpur today.
He said the PSI itself had apologised to Malaysians for the actions of their former staff who had originally wanted to allegedly blackmail the company.
Yesterday, the media reported that Thai police had detained the man and charged him for attempting to blackmail PSI, an international company based in Saudi Arabia which is well-known in Malaysia as it had worked with 1MDB.
Following the alleged blackmail attempt, several emails and documents were published by the blog Sarawak Report , leading to accusations against the 1MDB.
In a separate development, Ahmad Shabery said the amendments to the Communication and Multimedia Act to be tabled in Parliament in October would propose heavier penalties for individuals who abused the social media.
He said the present act had limitations against certain offences in the cyber world, especially relating to the dissemination of information in the social media.
“If now a person who commits an offence in the social media can be fined up to RM50,000, the amendments will propose heavier penalties depending on the offence,” he said.
He said that, for example, a person who disseminated information in the social media with the intention of sabotaging the national economy should be given a heavier sentence.
The amendments would cover various offences, including the circulation of child pornography in the social media.
- Bernama
For more news and views that matter, subscribe and support independent media for only RM0.36 sen a day:
Subscribe now