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KUALA LUMPUR – The Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) should not be investigating itself over allegations by global tech giant Meta that it ran a troll farm for the government to criticise political opponents, DAP lawmaker Gobind Singh Deo said.
The Puchong MP said Attorney-General (AG) Tan Sri Idrus Harun should state if it is legally proper for PDRM to do so.
“Whilst we welcome a probe into the matter, the question is whether it is proper for police to probe matters in which they themselves are said to be involved,” Gobind said in a statement today.
“It is also perhaps important to ask if there is a delay in the investigation and, if so, whether it has to do with an internal probe which may be contaminated with conflict.
“It is also important to note that PDRM has already denied the allegation even before the probe was completed. Would there not in these circumstances be a conflict on the part of PDRM to probe (into) the matter?” said Gobind, who is DAP national chairman.
He said the AG must direct an independent investigation to take the matter out of PDRM’s hands and preserve the force’s integrity.
On September 13, Police Inspector-General Tan Sri Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani said Bukit Aman was still investigating Meta’s allegations, which the tech giant revealed on August 6 in its Quarterly Adversarial Threat Report.
In its findings, Meta said that the troll farm network was made up of at least 596 Facebook accounts, 180 Facebook pages, 11 Facebook groups and 72 Instagram accounts. All these had a cumulative total of almost half a million followers.
The network “posted memes in Malay in support of the current government coalition” and also managed pages that posed as independent news entities, also promoting the police force “while criticising the opposition”.
Gobind said the AG’s independent probe into PDRM on Meta’s claims was necessary as it involved a matter of public interest that affected the integrity of the police force.
“It would be best if persons not directly connected to PDRM and the allegations decide if there is basis to it. It would be best if any such probe also be made public so as to enhance its transparency and credibility.” – The Vibes, September 18, 2022
