"This is Zahid Hamidi, okay?"

No compromise, no mercy.

That's the warning issued by Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to spin doctors, liars and slanderers yesterday. Stern action, he said, will be taken without prior reminder and reminder.

I like it. The rate of unscrupulous postings on the social media is getting out of control. Not only that it burns our good image on the international arena, it also incites racial and religious hatred among Malaysians.

Some Malaysians have been sucked into believing all those lies and slanders, triggering a 'time bomb' atmosphere that could explode anytime if it goes unchecked.

Zahid is aware of it, and decided that its time to put a stop to all those nonsense. The hammer, he said, will drop without warning.

"This is not a warning. I am taking action without warning. [...] You will have to pay a very expensive price.
“Don’t ever spin. This is Zahid Hamidi, okay?” Zahid, who is also Home Minister was reported saying.
"Not under my leadership; I am telling you this. Don’t expect me to warn, expect me to take action,” The Star quoted him saying at the Bayan Baru Umno annual general meeting yesterday.
Zahid said news reports must be ethical and based on facts. "You have to respect ethics. You write based on facts; don’t interpret and don’t ever spin.” he added.

Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak has also instructed the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission to streamline the laws and step up enforcement to check dissemination of slander on social media.

Najib, who is also the UMNO president, said if slander on the social media was allowed to fester, it would alter the thinking paradigm of the people and create a state of "trial by social media".

"When faced with trial by social media, we, as members of the administration will be declared guilty before trial.
"But when it comes to the opposition, it is all considered defamation, not considered as the truth. Is this not weird?" he said when opening the Hulu Selangor UMNO Division delegates meeting in Kuala Kubu Baru on Saturday.

Najib said the government could not obstruct the progress of technology but it also could not give absolute freedom to the extent that untruths were turned into truths.

He said UMNO should also become an active social media practitioner and have a specific programme to change the perception of the people.

And perhaps, what suggested by Kedah Mentri Besar Mukhriz Mahathir must be considered by the government - to enforce a strict law in stamping out such 'dangerous' activities on the Internet. Zahid, who is also Home Minister, must look into this.

The government has been urged to enforce the Terrorism Prevention Act (POTA) 2015 as soon as possible to prevent the dissemination of sensitive elements which can split racial unity.
UMNO Supreme Council member, Datuk Seri Mukhriz Tun Mahathir said this was because the people were already fed up with statements and remarks from certain quarters who had no regard for the sensitivity of the multi-racial society in Malaysia.
He said personally he was disappointed with the abolition of preventive laws such as the Internal Security Act and Emergency Ordinance which had enabled the government to take action against those who tried to jeopardise national security.
"They are replaced by POTA. This is a new law which we hope will be enforced as soon as possible. Believe me, this is necessary. I feel it is not impossible if there are enemies who are in actual fact seeking to disrupt the peace we have been enjoying."

And of course, all said by Najib, Zahid, Mukhriz and others are falling back on the MCMC.

There were complaints that the MCMC is slow in taking action of 'bad' social media players, namely blogs, FaceBook, Twitter, etc that so much so, it gives more rooms for damaging materials to be posted everyday, without fear.

While the police can only act on information fed by the MCMC and other parties, spin doctors, liars and slanderers keep growing in numbers. Perhaps, a more aggressive measures should be taken.

Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Dr Mohd Salleh Tun Said Keruak said today he sees the need for a review of the Communications and Multimedia Act (CMA) because Malaysians regard the social media and Internet as a lawless domain.

In a blog post, he said the move was considered timely as social media had become a necessary tool of everyday life that impacted not only the flow of information but finance and commerce as well.

"When the CMA was first enacted in 1998, the government did not envisage how popular the Internet would become and how rapid and widespread the usage of the social media would be," he said.
Dr Mohd Salleh said it would not be surprising if, in the not too distant future, everything was done entirely on the Internet as what had happened in some countries where the only way to get things done was on the Internet.

Well, MCMC or 'non-MCMC', what Zahid said about 'no warning' must be taken up seriously by all of us. If lies and slanders are allowed as 'entertainment' element for the public, sooner or later the country will be struck by a calamity!