Azalina urges fair probe after Anthropic exposes Malaysia influence operation

Umno information chief Azalina Othman Said has called for a thorough and impartial investigation into an alleged AI-driven influence operation targeting Malaysia’s political discourse, saying the key questions are who was behind it, who financed it and whose interests it served.

The minister in the Prime Minister’s Department made the remarks after AI company Anthropic disclosed that a threat actor had allegedly abused its Claude model to build an influence operation targeting Malaysia.

According to Anthropic’s September 2026 Threat Intelligence Report, the operation involved more than 1,000 fake X accounts, fabricated news content and the use of electoral data to micro-target Malaysians along racial, religious and royalty-related fault lines.

Anthropic also said one request sought one million artificial views for the sitting Malaysian prime minister’s account, but stressed there was no evidence the operation gained significant traction or altered election outcomes.

Azalina said the disclosure nevertheless warranted serious attention.

“The key questions now are who was behind the operation, who financed it, and whose interests it served,” the Pengerang MP said in a statement today.

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Social media comments

She also warned Malaysians not to assume that large numbers of social media comments reflected genuine public opinion.

Azalina said fake accounts and AI-powered bots could flood comment sections with messages supporting one side or attacking another, creating the impression that a certain view was widely held.

“A large number of comments does not necessarily mean that many people hold that view.

“The loudest, most numerous, or most frequently repeated comments are also not necessarily true,” she asserted.

She added that Malaysians who read comment sections to gauge public sentiment should be more cautious, as not every account that appears genuine necessarily represents a real person.

“Not every account that appears to belong to a real person necessarily represents a real person, and not every conversation on social media happens organically,” she said.

Azalina said Umno itself had faced repeated online attacks portraying the party as corrupt or untrustworthy.

However, she stressed that the party was not claiming that all criticism against Umno was fabricated or generated by bots.

“The people have the right to criticise Umno, the government, or any leader. Criticism based on facts must be respected,” she said.

Fair investigation

She also noted the MCMC’s explanation that Anthropic had said the threat actor pursued a contract with Malaysia’s national communications regulator, although there was no evidence that such an arrangement materialised.

MCMC has denied involvement in the activities described in the report and said it was gathering more information.

Azalina said any investigation and enforcement action must be carried out fairly, regardless of the political affiliation of those involved.

“If supporters of the ruling party break the law, take action. If supporters of the opposition break the law, take action.

“The law cannot have one standard for friends and another for opponents,” she stressed.

Azalina urged the public to verify sources and facts, distinguish between news and opinion, and not treat likes, shares or comment volumes as proof of truth.

“Technology can generate a thousand accounts and a thousand comments. But technology cannot determine the truth or what the people on the ground actually feel,” she said.

She added that Malaysia needed a digital space free from manipulation while remaining open to criticism and differing views.

“Malaysia’s democracy must be defended from all forms of manipulation and foreign interference,” she said.

‘Not new’

Separately, former Kota Belud MP Abdul Rahman Dahlan said attempts to disrupt political communications were not new, claiming senior BN leaders faced a similar problem on polling day in the 14th general election.

“It also happened on GE14 voting day in 2018,” he said today.

“Some BN senior leaders’ handphones were inundated with unknown incoming overseas calls every 10 seconds to prevent them from using their phones to communicate with their campaign machinery on voting day.

“It was almost impossible for me to use my phone or any messaging apps because the phone would suspend any phone activities to prioritise incoming calls. My phone was practically frozen,” said Rahman (below), who served as BN strategic communications director during the 2018 general election.

While describing another example of alleged interference with political communications, the 2018 incident involved repeated phone calls rather than the AI-driven influence operation detailed in Anthropic’s latest report.

The Anthropic disclosure follows previous findings of artificial political amplification in Malaysia.

Last year, Malaysiakini uncovered a network of at least 263 Facebook accounts that artificially boosted support for Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and found links between the network and a PKR Youth official. The Prime Minister’s Office denied involvement.

Meta had also reported uncovering an influence operation linked to the Royal Malaysian Police in 2022, an allegation the police denied.

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