BUTTERWORTH: The upcoming Johor and Negri Sembilan state elections will provide the Malaysian Media Council (MMC) with an opportunity to test and refine a new mechanism to combat fabricated content and safeguard public trust in information during elections.
MMC chairman Tan Sri Nallini Pathmanathan said close succession of the two polls – Johor on July 11 and Negri Sembilan on Aug 1 – offers a practical setting to evaluate and refine the council's newly launched Rapid Response Election Initiative.
"There is a real advantage in that sequence. What we learn in Johor, we can carry directly into Negri Sembilan, refining the mechanism in real time," she said at the Media Dialogue Session with Communications Minister Datuk Fahmi Fadzil here on Saturday (June 20).
The pilot programme focuses on verifying content falsely attributed to media organisations, including fabricated news graphics, manipulated screenshots and reports carrying forged media logos.
Under the framework, the MMC will act solely as coordinator, while media organisations themselves will verify whether disputed content originated from their platforms.
The Election Commission (EC) will serve as the reference point for election-related matters, while Bernama will assist in disseminating verified information to the public.
"Content Forum Malaysia is our principal partner on digital content, platform engagement and media literacy, while the Community Communications Department (J-Kom) and National Information Dissemination Centres (Nadi) will carry verified information into communities.
"The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), on the other hand, remains an essential supporting agency where a matter requires regulatory channels, technical assistance, or further action involving platforms," she added.
Nallini said the initiative was not intended to assess the accuracy of political manifestos or campaign claims but to provide a trusted mechanism for verifying whether content attributed to media organisations was genuine, thereby helping safeguard public confidence in information circulating during election periods.
Explaining how the mechanism would operate, Nallini said a viral graphic falsely bearing the logo of a media organisation and claiming that a candidate has withdrawn could be verified within minutes by the organisation concerned, allowing a correction to be issued before the misinformation gains wider traction.
Similarly, false claims involving election procedures could be referred to the EC for verification and clarification.
She described the initiative as a practical response to the growing threat posed by synthetic and AI-generated content, which can be rapidly produced and widely disseminated during election campaigns.
Alongside the initiative, the council will run a public awareness campaign carrying the slogan "Who said it? What's the source?" to encourage voters to verify information before accepting or sharing it.
"This is not an instruction to stay silent. It is an invitation to think. During an election, citizens have every right to read, share, debate and to take part but healthy participation depends on information that can be trusted.
"So the message is just this: before believing, ask first 'Siapa kata? Sos mana?'" Nallini said.
Present at the dialogue session, held in conjunction with National Journalists' Day (HAWANA) 2026 celebration, were Communications Ministry secretary-general Datuk Abdul Halim Hamzah and deputy secretary-general (Strategic Communications and Creative Industry) Datuk Bahria Mohd Tamil.
Among those in attendance were Bernama chairman Datuk Seri Wong Chun Wai, Bernama chief executive officer and HAWANA 2026 working committee chair Datin Paduka Nur-ul Afida Kamaludin, Bernama editor-in-chief Arul Rajoo Durar Raj, as well as senior management from local media organisations. – Bernama
