GUANGZHOU, Dec 4 — Prominent media figure Datuk Seri Wong Chun Wai has called on established news organisations to work together with regulators to fight scammers who committ fraud.
He said trillions of dollars had been lost to scams globally with many ordinary people losing their life fortune and savings.
The Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama) chairman said such cheating was an extension of those who had misused social media to slander and post false and malicious information behind anonymity.
Misinformation and scamming will worsen as artificial intelligence will be used more in the coming years, he added.
Speaking at the World Media Summit here, Wong said the mainstream media were familiar with the problems posed by misinformation, adding the updated legislation, including custodial sentences, needed to be applied to punish the culprits.
He said Bernama, like other Malaysian news outlets, had a check section for people to verify what they read.
“This is why mainstream media remains so important. Now, more than ever, we have a place in the world as legitimate purveyors of information and news.
“This is where global media cooperation comes into play, as we must ensure that we continue to stand strong as a principled body of trust for the public,” he said.
He praised China’s Cyberspace Administration for closing over 100,000 fake news social media accounts between April and May this year.
— Bernama
