Kuala Lumpur: A wave of political disinformation targeting Malaysia’s Rohingya population has raised alarm among rights groups that say it is fueling xenophobia and intimidation against the refugee community.
AFP fact-checkers have debunked a torrent of falsehoods about the Muslim ethnic group on platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and TikTok — including fake quotes, doctored videos and fabricated statistics.
While anti-Rohingya disinformation has proliferated for years amid military crackdowns in their home country of Myanmar, analysts say the recent uptick is part of a broader political campaign ahead of Malaysian elections next year.
“Refugees have become a convenient proxy through which wider anxieties about the economy, migration, public services, security and national identity are channelled and expressed in the most violent and hateful language,” said Lilianne Fan, head of the Secretariat of the Malaysian Advisory Group on Myanmar.
“And ultimately the end message seems to be: The government is not listening to citizens.”
