Fact Check Viral Teresa Anti Islam Article Found Defamatory In 2020

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A blog post from 2019, claiming that DAP’s Seputeh MP Teresa Kok is “anti Islam” is still circulating on social media and instant messaging applications, even though the content was found defamatory in the High Court in 2020.
Earlier this month, fact-checking alliance JomCheck received a request for a fact-check from a reader, who received the article claiming Kok (above) is “anti-Islam” via WhatsApp.
However, Jomcheck found that in February 2020 Kok won a defamation lawsuit against Selangor PAS leader Syarhan Humaizi Abdul Halim, who had posted two articles - including the one sent to the Jomcheck tipline.
The judge at the time said the PAS leader had defamed Kok by posting those articles on his Facebook and awarded Kok RM80,000 in damages.
Despite the court finding, the article is still easily accessible on the Wangsa Daily and Malaysia Today websites.
PAS’ Syarhan Humaizi Abdul HalimWangsa Daily claims to be a blog posting political news while Malaysia Today is a website managed by fugitive blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin.
Wangsa Daily published the article on Jan 17, 2019 and linked back to Malaysia Today, which published it five days earlier. Both websites attributed blogger Abu Leman as the original source.
Resurgence on social media
The Malaysia Today version has been shared at least 46,000 times on social media.
Although the article alleging Kok is anti-Islam is the top-read post on Wangsa Daily, and the viral WhatsApp message links back to Wangsa Daily, the blog has not posted any new content since 2020.
However, on its sidebar, the blog promotes the Facebook page ‘Gegar Rakyat’ which was active up until August 2022, when it hosted a live discussion with Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
Malaysiakini’s checks also found the same article by Abu Leman shared on webforum Cari.com.my in 2019 while the Malaysia Today version is linked to various anti-DAP social media pages with a wide reach.
However, it was likely first published before that as there were earlier versions posted on social media.
Author fined for spreading other false info
The article seems to be making a resurgence, with social media postings about it appearing this month.
Meanwhile, Abu Leman, who Wangsa Daily and Malaysia Today cited as the author of the article, was in February 2022 fined RM10,000 for two counts of distributing false information, in two unrelated postings.
Abu Leman was the nom de guerre for e-hailing driver Abdul Rahman Abdollah, Harian Metro reported. The Abu Leman blog and Facebook are no longer accessible. - Mkini
Malaysiakini is part of the Malaysian fact-checking alliance JomCheck.
Through JomCheck, Malaysians can submit requests to fact-check a claim by sending a WhatsApp message to the tipline at 017-477 6659 (WhatsApp text only, no calls) or via this link.

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