Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah today slammed racist remarks hurled by social media users at a journalist.
“Any threat or attack against a reporter on duty is totally unacceptable,” he said in a posting on his Facebook and Twitter accounts.
The journalist became the target of attack following her report on a statement by Environment Minister Datuk Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man relating to logging in Kelantan.
Malaysiakini’s Kow Gah Chie received abuse for a story she wrote mentioning Tuan Ibrahim defending logging activities in Kelantan.
Kow had met Tuan Ibrahim, who is the new Environment Minister, during an event at his new ministry where she was asking a lot of questions but apparently none of them was related to logging in Kelantan.
Videos were circulating online of the said press conference with Tuan Ibrahim and Kow but there was no mention of logging.
These logging activities were said to be encroaching into the habitat of the Orang Asli as well as wildlife in Kelantan and have been a contentious issue for several years.
Hence, Kow came under fire, with some calling her ugly while others called her a pig, as her article “New environment minister defends logging in Kelantan” drew the ire of the public and supporters of Tuan Ibrahim as it made him look bad.
Some even threatened physical attacks on her.
Tuan Ibrahim in a statement yesterday said he disapproved of any attacks on reporters adding that misconstrued information happens all the time and it should be dealt with and corrected in a professional manner.
Malaysiakini had said that Kow spoke to Tuan Ibrahim during a doorstop at the same event.