Varia Ranah - Sorotan Ilmiah Perkhidmatan Awam

25 Varia Ranah: Sorotan Ilmiah Perkhidmatan Awam EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Recent shifts in the social media ecosystem raise new concerns about the viability of new technology which cause the rise of fake news in the global landscape. The spread of fake information regarding COVID-19 situation became a controversial topic and gaining broad public concerns. Fake news as a form of misinformation across the fast pace technology via social media has control today’s media. An abundance of information sources online leads the public heavily depend on existing sources to determine the credibility of information that shapes their beliefs, which are in turn very difficult to correct or change their perception. As Malaysia is one of the highest internet penetration countries in South East Asia, the threat of fake news damagingly affects the country stability. Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) as the regulator faced huge challenges in addressing the fake news. A failure to tackle the influence of social media will affect Malaysia’s political, economic and social. This study which focuses on MCMC as the leading agency aims to analyze the challenges in dealing with the threat of fake news. This study also recommends an improved solution and proposed plan for countering fake news. This proposed strategy can help MCMC formulates competitive and innovative action plan to prevent dissemination of fake news. INTRODUCTION Fake news has been around in Malaysia for years especially since the General Election 2018. In September 2017, Reuters Institute revealed that Malaysia is the global leader in WhatsApp news usage. 51% of news consumers in Malaysia use WhatsApp to find, share or discuss news in a given week. The reports added that majority of Malaysian news source via social media platforms (86%), print (45%), TV (54%) and radio (15%). 60% of Malaysian read their news from the new media which 20% are paying for the online news. Malaysia’s growing internet penetration rate is undoubtedly one of the main