I've never had a Facebook or Twitter account, says Rosmah

- Bernama file pic

KUALA LUMPUR: The Prime Minister's wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor (pic) says that she has never had any social media accounts.

As such, she said the public should not fall for social media accounts bearing or using her name, which she said were fake and numbered about 20 on Facebook alone.

"I've never had a Facebook account. I'm not on Twitter either. I just have this antique Samsung (mobile phone). As long as I can make calls, accept calls and reply the SMS (short service message).

"If you read it (on social media), then you've been duped. If there's anything (you want to know) about me, just ask me face-to-face. Straight to the point, don't tell lies."

Rosmah was speaking at the Annual Gathering of the National Sayang Squad in conjunction with the Umno General Assembly 2016 at the Putra World Trade Centre here Monday.

Also present were National Sayang Squad chief commissioner and Wanita Umno chief Tan Sri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil and Wanita Umno vice-chief Datuk Azizah Mohd Dun.

Rosmah said the existence of multiple fake Facebook accounts using her name had also motivated her to attend Facebook chairman and chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg's keynote address at the CEO Summit 2016 in Lima, Peru, recently.

She said her excitement to meet with Zuckerberg so early in the morning also left her husband, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, puzzled.

"I told him (Najib) that I want to ask Zuckerberg if there is any mechanism for him (Zuckerberg) to detect false Facebook accounts.

"I waited, but there was not question-and-answer session as he (Zuckerberg) had to rush to another place. I really wanted to ask him because Facebook also has its flaws," she said.

Meanwhile, in her speech, Rosmah, who is the Patron of the Sayang Squad, reminded all members to improve their social media knowledge and intelligence skills as social media has already transformed the landscape of national politics.

"Make optimal use of strategic social media channels to promote our efforts.

Use social media as our cyber weapon to disseminate the correct information and to counter all the allegations and lies hurled by the opposition," she said.

Rosmah said the move was apt as the Malaysian Digital Landscape 2016 survey revealed that 69% or 21 million of Malaysia's 31.5 million population were Internet users.

Of the total, 68% were active users of popular social media, such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, she said, adding that on average, Malaysians spent 5.1 hours on the Internet or 2.8 hours on social media a day. - Bernama