WHY is the Malaysian police taking so long to investigate allegation by Meta Platform Inc (formerly Facebook Inc) of police “troll farm” or do we really have a police “troll farm” operating without the Inspector-General of Police’s (IGP) knowledge or consent?
Such is the question posed by veteran lawmaker Lim Kit Siang to Tan Sri Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani after the latter provided an update yesterday (Sept 13) that investigations are still ongoing into a report by Meta that it had removed more than 600 “troll farms” from Facebook and Instagram accounts linked to the local police.
“It is 40 days since Meta made the revelation on Aug 5 in its Quarterly Adversarial Threat Report that it had removed hundreds of Facebook and Instagram accounts, pages and groups that were part of a “troll farm” aimed at influencing social media users in the country,” the MP for Iskandar Puteri pointed out.
“This is most unsatisfactory. Did the police reach out to Meta for information?”
Aside from the police still pursuing its probe, Acryl Sani said yesterday (Sept 13) that the police has also denied Meta’s report with him having instructed the Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) to look into the matter.
“We are still investigating. If there are any developments (in the case), the CCID will provide an update,” he told a media conference after launching the anti-scam ambassador appointment ceremony at the Police Training College.
In its report, Meta has claimed that its investigation found the ‘troll farm’ which supported the ruling coalition and police while accusing its critics and the opposition of corruption was linked to the police.
The report added that the network was active across the Internet, including Facebook, TikTok, Twitter and Instagram, and posted memes in Malay in support of the current government coalition with claims of corruption among its critics.
“Why is the Police taking weeks and months to deal with a problem which operates in seconds and minutes? I have called for a public inquiry headed by a judge or former judge to investigate the serious allegation by Meta,” insisted the DAP supremo.
“Will the IGP agree to the proposal to restore the police’s public credibility and professionalism and to assure the Malaysian public that the police are not in the thick of committing cybercrimes?”
“The IGP should state whether the police are willing to cooperate with an independent inquiry, which would include inviting Meta to disclose evidence proving the force’s link to the troll farm,” added Kit Siang. – Sept 14, 2022
