MELAKA – The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) will not interfere in social media campaigns by contesting political parties during the 16th Melaka State Election, says Communications Minister Datuk Seri Fahmi Fadzil.
Instead, he said the commission will actively monitor social media platforms and only initiate investigations or take action against posts upon receiving complaints from the public.
“To date, these are the only two mechanisms MCMC will apply to posts concerning campaigning by contesting parties on social media platforms,” he said when asked about MCMC’s online monitoring measures during the Melaka polls scheduled for Nov 14.
Fahmi said this at a press conference after attending the Safe Internet Programme at the Multimedia University (MMU) Melaka Campus in Bukit Beruang here today.
Elaborating, Fahmi said MCMC is also monitoring the misuse of social media accounts to spread false information, the use of deepfakes, and extremely offensive content.
“We are also tracking a trend where content is uploaded by fake accounts, which then disappear once the post is published. This happens frequently and is not something we only anticipate during the state election; it is being detected more often and is quite worrying.
“We found that much of the content containing derogatory statements against the King originated from overseas-based accounts. Upon closer examination, we found that most of them, or 98 per cent, were fake accounts, so we take this very seriously,” he said.
Asked about Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) decision to name Parti Amanah Negara vice-president Adly Zahari as its Chief Minister candidate, Fahmi said it was due to his experience.
“He is an experienced figure. He has served as a state assemblyman for two terms and was previously Chief Minister,” said Fahmi, who is also PH communications director.
PH election director Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari was previously reported as saying that Adly, who is the coalition’s candidate for the Bukit Katil state constituency, was chosen as the poster boy and Chief Minister candidate should the coalition win the Melaka polls.
The Election Commission (EC) has set Nov 14 as polling day for the 16th Melaka State Election, with early voting on Nov 10. – November 1, 2026