Alarming Rise In Number Of Inaccurate TikTok Videos On 13 May
The videos on Tiktok give a different account of 13 May 1969 and were seemingly aimed at sowing racial disharmony.
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Now that the 15th general election (GE15) had passed, there has been a rise of inaccurate content on Tiktok regarding 13 May, a dark event in Malaysia’s past.
These videos appear to fan animosity towards the Chinese and to scare Muslims into not supporting a certain political party.
Some of these videos claimed that the incident was started by the Chinese and used the incident to implore the Malay community to support a Muslim party to lead the nation.
The video below is a sample of the type of content that is circulated online.
Setuju, mulakanlah dengan menyerang punca jadinya 13 Mei tu : rakan kongsi kamu sendiri, GERAKAN. pic.twitter.com/356DPRGeaq
— Azfar Zainal Abidin 🪐🏴 (@AzfarZA) November 21, 2022
The TikTok videos spilt over to other social media platforms such as Twitter.
Some parents shared that the sentiments had also allegedly been passed on to schoolchildren by their teachers.
Jahanam masa depan negara akibat fitnah politik yang mencemari pemikiran anak-anak
— Fahmi Fadzil 🇲🇾🏴 (@fahmi_fadzil) November 22, 2022
This must stop https://t.co/MlmlQJa3ds
The police had issued a statement to remind the public, especially social media users, not to upload or create provocative content that could lead to civil unrest.
Anyone found guilty of disrupting the peace and endangering the safety of others can be charged under the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, the Sedition Act, and the Penal Code.
TRP has reached out to Tiktok for more information.
READ MORE: Report Fake News And Hate Speech To Us, Says MCMC
Correcting inaccurate narratives
The sentiment being fanned on TikTok is not sitting well with many Twitter users.
Netizens are concerned with the misinformation, sharing links to articles on what actually happened.
Alleged survivors also shared what happened that day in an attempt to correct the disinformation. Those who lived through the 13 May 1969 incident shared their experience from the incident that day.
My daughter told me her classmate openly support Muhiddin and shared about May13 and how the Chinese caused the incident. She forgot my daughter is Malaysian Chinese. That gave me the perfect chance to share with her about May13;https://t.co/49Vy8aXDeU
— Stupe (@tristupe) November 21, 2022
Saksi yang masih hidup tentang peristiwa 13 Mei. Kita kena belajar sejarah yang betul. pic.twitter.com/xvx0oi3WXU
— CIKY🔺NIE (@lady_bugg11) November 21, 2022
full video here! congratulations team @MUDAShahAlam
— Dayat 🏴 (@dideedayat) November 21, 2022
ayuh jadi anak muda yang celik akal, bukan dimomok agenda perkaumanhttps://t.co/X86WKKdXOn
My mother was nearly killed during May 13. She was watching a movie with my aunt when the mob burst in with parangs. They had to hide in a shoplot with other people. My grandmother spent the next few days crying her eyes out, thinking her daughters were dead. #GE15Malaysia
— elizabethtai.substack.com (@liztai) November 21, 2022
Activist Fahmi Reza was said to have gone Live on Tiktok to educate netizens about 13 May but his video stream was cut short after it was reported and was subsequently blocked.
In a bid to counter misinformation, a list of accounts guilty of spreading 13 May sentiments had been compiled.
Fahmi @kuasasiswa share pasal 13 mei yang sebenar, disebabkan terlalu banyak misinformation di tiktok, dan ramai misinformation pasal 13 mei di comment section live beliau, terus report kena beramai2 & live terus kena blocked? Apa benda ni? pic.twitter.com/3I9ezlQiFV
— Shazni 🏴 (@saaasni) November 21, 2022
And these are those that spread misinformation and racial hatred https://t.co/MgEVgIo2IV
— Stupe (@tristupe) November 21, 2022
compilation of tiktokers yang spread hatred with caption “Yang Undi PH ni islam atas IC je ke” and so on :-
— R🔺TU HARAPAN (@prvtbutnotso) November 21, 2022
1/10 pic.twitter.com/Qc3rOFJlgL
Some politicians have expressed concern about the matter and have spoken up about it.
Bangi MP Syahredzan Johan said the inaccurate videos regarding the darkest period in the nation’s history shouldn’t be taken lightly.
Pakatan Harapan chairman and Tambun MP Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim also expressed his worry after seeing the racial sentiments online.
He said the effort to form a responsible and stable government shouldn’t end with racial disharmony and supports the police’s caution to the public.
Video-video TikTok main isu 13 Mei 1969 amat membimbangkan. Kita tidak boleh biarkan sahaja.
— Syahredzan Johan (@syahredzan) November 21, 2022
Usaha dan ikhtiar dalam menubuhkan kerajaan yang bertanggungjawab dan stabil tidak seharusnya berakhir dengan kekacauan kerana kaum Melayu, Cina, India, Orang Asli, suku kaum Sabah dan Sarawak adalah bersaudara sebagai manusia dan rakyat Malaysia yang cintakan keamanan.
— Anwar Ibrahim (@anwaribrahim) November 21, 2022
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