Datuk Aidi Ismail
KUCHING (May 18): Sarawak Police Commissioner Datuk Aidi Ismail has appealed to the public to exercise caution and restraint when commenting on the Palestine-Israel conflict on social media platforms.
“The police would like to advise the public to be careful when providing opinions or comments on the conflict and not to abuse social media platforms to vent one’s frustrations and anger that might be taken as offensive and insensitive,” he said in a statement.
He said such comments were an offence under the Penal Code, Sedition Act, and Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, among other laws.
Aidi pointed out that the police had recently arrested two individuals for causing distress to others with their comments via social media platforms, adding the investigations will be referred to the deputy public prosecutors for further action.
Through their monitoring of social media platforms, Aidi said the police had found that several comments on the conflict had touched on sensitive issues related to religion, race and ethnicity which could result in resentment and anger among certain quarters of the public.
“The police will not hesitate to take strict action towards anyone who commits such an offence.”
Aidi also advised the public not to be easily influenced by information circulated online and that they must check the authenticity of a piece of information before sharing it with others.
“If the public feel that a certain action or matter is against the law, they must contact the police and not take the law into their own hands as it could escalate the situation and jeopardise the harmony of the society,” he said.