Selangor Menteri Besar Mohamed Azmin Ali is baffled by Putrajaya's plan to have social media platform providers to curb "false information" by unnamed "news portals".

According to him, Putrajaya will only end up chasing its tail while the problems will remain unsolved.

"I don't know what is the intention of the minister (of communications and multimedia Salleh Said Keruak). To meet ( Google , Facebook and Twitter ), for what?" Azmin asked when met at the Selangor state assembly today.

"That will not solve the problem. They have to be transparent in ensuring free flow of information so that the rakyat get the right information. The minister has to understand he can't do that in the present circumstances."

Salleh ( photo ) announced on his blog yesterday that his ministry would engage media platform providers to stem what it claimed as “false information and rumours” on the Internet.

 

“The issue of false information has recently taken centrestage in the media, especially online news portals.

 

“In this respect, I have instructed the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to meet Facebook , Google and Twitter soon to seek their cooperation to stem the increasing tide of false information and rumours from spreading via their social media applications,” wrote the newly-minted minister.

No need for outsiders to help monitor

Selangor speaker Hannah Yeoh who agreed with Azmin said Putrajaya need not do so.

"We do not need any outsiders to help us monitor," she said, adding that enforcement agencies are capable of doing the job.

Citing the probe of DAP activist Syefura Othman under Sedition Act for a Facebook posting a year ago, Yeoh said the government has the resources to monitor speeches on the Internet.

"The inspector-general of police Khalid Abu Bakar also claimed that he has a lot of manpower to monitor the Internet," she said at the state assembly which is sitting for the first time since the demise of Pakatan Rakyat, commencing today until Aug 27.

Yeoh ( photo ) said the problem with the authority is that they practice double standards when it comes to taking action.

Asked whether she expects a hung state assembly if PAS is kicked out by the ruling coalition, she said it is too premature to comment.

"This is subject to the leadership's discussion and decision," Yeoh said, adding that everything went on smoothly today and that lawmakers in Selangor have displayed a different level of maturity.

DAP had unilaterally pronounced in June the death of Pakatan, which garnered 52 percent of the popular votes in 2013 general elections.

In Selangor, Pakatan won 44 out of 56 states, where both PAS and DAP secured 15 seats each, while PKR has only 13 seats after the sacking of Khalid Ibrahim, the former menteri besar.