KUALA LUMPUR — Enforcement action against digital manipulation must be carried out fairly regardless of political affiliation, Umno Information chief Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said said, amid concerns over an Anthropic report on an AI-powered operation targeting Malaysian politics and voters.
Azalina said the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) must apply the law equally to supporters of both government and opposition parties.
“If government party supporters break the law, take action. If opposition party supporters break the law, take action,” she said in a statement today.
“The law cannot have one measure for friends and another measure for opponents.”
Her call came after artificial intelligence (AI) firm Anthropic reported a cyber operation involving about 1,000 fake X accounts, a fabricated news portal and content containing false allegations in an attempt to manipulate Malaysian political discourse.
“Although there is no evidence that the operation succeeded in changing election results or voters’ views, the disclosure still needs to be taken seriously,” said Azalina who is also Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform).
“The important questions now are who is controlling this operation, who is funding it and whose interests it is serving.”
Azalina said Malaysians needed to be more cautious about content and comments on social media, particularly as fake accounts and AI-powered bots could create the impression that certain views represented the majority.
The Pengerang MP said the manipulation of comment sections was particularly concerning, as fake accounts or AI-based bots could be used to generate large numbers of comments supporting one side or attacking another.
“When the same thing is repeated by dozens or hundreds of accounts, people may get the impression that this is the majority view of the people,” she added.
She stressed that a large number of comments did not necessarily mean that many Malaysians shared the same view.
“The strongest, most numerous or most frequently repeated comments are not necessarily true.”
She also urged Malaysians to verify information before accepting what they read or encounter in social media comment sections.
“Not all accounts that appear to represent real people necessarily represent real people, and not all conversations on social media happen organically,” she added.
She said Umno itself was not immune to attacks on its public perception, claiming the party was often portrayed as “evil, corrupt or untrustworthy” through allegations repeatedly posted in comment sections.
However, Azalina stressed that Umno was not claiming all criticism against the party was false or generated by bots.
“People have the right to criticise Umno, the government or any leader. Criticism based on facts must be respected,” she said.
Yesterday, MCMC said it was taking seriously claims by Anthropic that a commercial political manipulation operation had targeted Malaysia.
MCMC said it was aware of Anthropic’s recent report on the alleged use of AI to conduct online political manipulation and was currently examining its findings.— September 12, 2026