[ UPDATE 12/01/2021 22:20 ]: MCMC has issued a statement claiming that its official Twitter account was hacked. Learn more here.
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The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) had recently posted a reminder to all internet users to be polite and courteous when sharing their views online. It mentioned that it will monitor platforms for content that spreads misinformation especially if it touches on royalty, religion and races. Anyone caught sharing offensive content can be charged under Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act (CMA) 1998 which carries a penalty of up to RM50,000, 2 years in prison or both.
A few hours later, several netizens have dug up old tweets from the MCMC’s twitter account at @SKMM_MCMC. Surprisingly, some of the old tweets can be considered offensive and were tweeted back in 2014.
The tweets appear to come from an individual and the random tweets have nothing to do with telecommunications, postal and multimedia matters. Some of the tweets are obviously personal rants with a dose of profanity.
When we did a search, it appears that the real MCMC had began tweeting on official matters sometime in 2015. Obviously, most people were amused with the discovery.
After the old tweets went viral, the MCMC had immediately protected its account from further exposure. It’s likely they are cleaning up their old tweets at the time of posting. MCMC is also currently trending on Twitter with over 18,000 tweets.
So what happened?
It appears that MCMC had taken over an existing account when it started its twitter presence. According to @NazruiHakim, he sold the account with 50,000 followers when he was in secondary school. According to his tweet, he handed over the account to another individual without knowing that it became the official twitter account for the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission. He added that he didn’t remove his old tweets because it never crossed his mind.
If you’re planning to create your official presence on social media, it’s better to start with a fresh new account, especially if you’re using it to represent an official government agency.
Back to MCMC’s PSA, if you spot any offensive content, you may report it to their WhatsApp hotline at 016-220 6262. Alternatively, you can drop them an email at mediasosial [@] mcmc.gov.my.
