Guan Eng: Hate speech no solution to people’s problems, after CIJ red flags PAS, GTA

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 18 — DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng today pointed out that hate speech is not the way to address important issues faced by the people, after a social media monitoring initiative marked several such instances by political leaders.

Lim’s statement comes following an initiative to monitor hate speech on social media during campaigning said it found that race-based narratives, especially espousing “Ketuanan Melayu” or Malay supremacy, have ramped up ahead of the 15th general election (GE15).

The report highlighted remarks by PAS and Gerakan Tanah Air (GTA) leaders.

The Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ)’s Social Media Monitoring Initiative said its interim findings for the campaigning period between October 20 and November 15 also pointed to PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang as what it called “one of the key amplifiers of divisive, racist, intolerant and hate-based narratives”.

“Hate speech has never been the solution towards the people’s problems of low wages, high cost of living and lack of equal opportunity. PAS leaders led by its president (Tan Sri) Abdul Hadi Awang have been identified by the Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) as one of the main amplifiers of “divisive, racist, intolerant and hate-based” narratives.

“CIJ disclosed that PAS have resorted to fear-triggering Muslim voters with phrases like ‘going to hell if you vote Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Barisan Nasional (BN), and inciting violence against ‘kafir harbi’ (enemies of Islam), and for calling Malays to unite and fight against the Chinese (DAP) and Indians during the reporting period. Hadi and PAS have also resorted to ‘red-tagging’ in recent weeks, with the continued accusation of DAP being communists as they are allegedly atheist and promote lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, and queer (LGBTIQ) practices,” Lim said.

He also pointed to Perikatan Nasional (PN) chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who had in a ceramah, cautioned the mostly Malay-Muslim attendees of a supposed Jewish-Christian agenda.

Lim said that that the elections tomorrow will therefore see the contest between PN and Barisan BN “weaponising fear by using hate speech and the hope of a better future inspired by Pakatan Harapan.”

“During the campaign, we have listened to what the people desire. The people of Malaysia want economic issues to be prioritised so that they can live better. The people want their government to respect the Federal Constitution and respect the people. They want the government to encourage the rakyat to respect each other to unite the nation and create a harmonious society.

“Only by preserving freedom can we enjoy equal opportunity. Only by establishing justice, can we live in dignity. Only by pursuing good and clean governance can we enjoy prosperity. Only by upholding democracy can we ensure that the people and not cash is king,” Lim added.

In its report, CIJ pointed to Hadi, who is contesting in Marang under PN, and an anti-DAP social media post invoking God’s power to punish certain ethnic groups by eliminating them.

This remark was also flagged by #KamiNampak, another initiative to monitor the use of racial and religious rhetoric in the 15th general election, which yesterday categorised it as “public incitement to genocide”.

The report also highlighted other PAS campaigners such as Sik PAS Youth chief Mohd Shahiful Nasir Mhd Nasir, as well as celebrity supporters like Jamal Abdillah and Zul Huzaimy for using inflammatory narratives and resorting to trigger fear among Muslim voters, inciting violence against “infidels”, and calling for Malays to unite and fight against the ethnic Chinese and Indians.

The initiative highlighted how Hadi and PAS have used a tactic it called “red-tagging” by continuing to accuse rivals DAP of being Communists, citing alleged atheism and “promotion” of the queer community.

It also flagged Gerakan Tanah Air (GTA) for emphasising that the fate of the Malays here only rests with it, and PH’s use of race card by saying PN will rule the country like the Taliban.

The initiative monitors the severity of hate speech during the election period, with partners from USM, University of Nottingham Malaysia and Universiti Malaysia Sabah.

It reviewed 52,012 unique posts during the interim period and found that race-based narratives topped the chart with 32,066 posts.

This was followed by religion (13,338), gender and comments targeting the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer community (5,161), royalty (3,968), and comments targeting migrants and refugees (2,246).