Don't slander based on Facebook automatic translation - Fahmi

Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil has called out an unnamed individual for wrongfully blaming him and slandering national broadcaster Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM) over an automatic translation of a Facebook post.

Taking to Facebook, Fahmi (above) said the person had unjustifiably accused RTM of posting an offensive remark in English against Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar on his installation as the 17th Yang di-Pertuan Agong yesterday.

“The original (Facebook) post was in fact in Malay,” he said.

“Then they spread slander until someone said they think ‘he (Fahmi) should hang himself’.

“Don’t do this. Be fair to RTM. Don’t slander,” he stressed.

Fahmi also shared a screenshot of a WhatsApp message sent to alert him of the auto-translated Facebook post.

According to the image, the original congratulatory message read: “Junjung kasih kepada Yang Maha Mulia Raja-Raja Melayu yang telah memberikan kepercayaan dan penghormatan kepada Sultan Ibrahim, Yang di-Pertuan Agong ke-17.”

However, the auto-translation wrongly interpreted the text to read, “Condolences to His Majesty the Malay kings who have given trust and respect to Sultan Ibrahim, the 17th Pertuan Agong”.

RTM as the official broadcaster yesterday extensively reported on the installation ceremony live from Istana Negara, as well as on the channel’s social media platforms, including Facebook.

RTM lodges police report

Separately, RTM clarified today that it did not upload any official information in English on Facebook regarding the Agong’s installation.

“The English translation by Facebook’s system was incorrect. RTM did not upload any condolence message in conjunction with the installation ceremony of the 17th Yang di-Pertuan Agong,” it said in a statement.

The national broadcaster said it had lodged a police report over the matter while the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) contacted Facebook’s parent company Meta regarding the erroneous translation.

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