SO soon after estate planning group Rockwills International Bhd was being falsely accused of being under investigation for data and confidentiality breach, TIME dotCom Bhd’s commander-in-chief Afzal Abdul Rahim has found himself maliciously linked to the remand of a “completely unconnected individual” in Johor.
The telco has identified the culprit as “www.celebseek.com, a little-known tabloid website with a history of attracting attention via ‘clickbait’ articles”. A check by FocusM shows that the link to the said article as well as access to the website have been disabled.
“This content has subsequently been re-posted by other gossip and tabloid-type websites,” TIME pointed out in a media statement. “We wish to categorically state that this incident has nothing to do whatsoever with TIME or our commander-in-chief.”
Describing such pathetic attempts to drive traffic to an irrelevant website by its owners as clearly defamatory in nature, TIME said it has initiated legal action against the website as well as filed a complaint with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and the police.
“This kind of slanderous, malicious behaviour unnecessarily risks corporate and personal reputations for no other reason than to profit seek,” lamented TIME.
“Our board takes this issue very seriously and is committed to taking every action needed to bring www.celebseek.com and its owners to justice, no matter which corner of the internet they are hiding or hosted in.
“This also includes content aggregators who have republished the malicious article without verifying its contents.”
TIME also “humbly reminded” the public that the sharing of fake news is a serious offence and attracts civil liability under Malaysian laws. – June 15, 2022
