COMMENT | Media manipulation diverts discussions from important issues

COMMENT | Polarisation over race and religion have afflicted Malaysia for decades. Political elites regularly appeal to these divides by manipulating the media and playing up racial rhetoric, which constrained the adoption of much-needed reforms and fuelled political instability.

In Malaysia, we are faced with the twin challenges of media suppression and information pollution; the powerful can easily exploit oppressive laws, cyber troopers, and bots to create biased news, websites or comments to spread pro-government propaganda or divert the public’s attention from important issues.

Due to the abovementioned problems, there exists an unhealthy media environment for the formation of opinions.

The media can be easily focused or diverted to racial and religious issues created by...