Time dotcom Berhad (Time) has issued a statement to debunk allegations that its Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Afzal Abdul Rahim was maliciously linked to an unrelated case in Johor. According to the statement, the reported incident has “NOTHING TO DO WHATSOEVER with TIME or our Commander-in-Chief”.
The telecommunications company is aware that some tabloid websites with a history of attracting attention via “clickbait” articles have intentionally linked Afzal to the remand of a completely unconnected 43-year-old individual by the MACC over suspicion of soliciting and receiving payments for a telco tower project. According to Time, such pathetic attempts to drive traffic are clearly defamatory in nature and they have initiated legal action against the website and have filed a complaint with the MCMC and the police.
It added that this kind of slanderous, malicious behaviour unnecessarily risks corporate and personal reputations for no other reason than to profit seek. The board of the company takes the issue very seriously and is committed to taking every action needed to bring the website “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 reminded the public that sharing fake news is a serious offence and attracts civil liability under Malaysian laws.
Besides serving as the CEO of Time, Afzal is also an Independent Director at CIMB Group Holdings Berhad. He also sits on the board of Symphony Communication Public Company Limited, CMC Telecommunication Infrastructure Corporation, Megawisra Investments Limited, Megawisra Sdn Bhd, Global Transit International Sdn Bhd and Pulau Kapas Ventures Sdn Bhd. Afzal also founded the Malaysian Internet Exchange (MyIX) in 2006, Malaysia’s first neutral Internet Exchange that connects local ISPs and content providers to exchange internet traffic.
