期刊名称：International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences
电子版ISSN：2222-6990
出版年度：2018
卷号：8
期号：12
页码：1394-1401
DOI：10.6007/IJARBSS/v8-i12/5242
语种：English
出版社：Human Resource Management Academic Research Society
摘要：The recently published Digital News Report 2017 by Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism has discovered the rise of instant messaging applications such as WhatsApp, Viber, WeChat, Line and many others for sharing and distributing of news in the cyber world. Out of these services, WhatsApp was found to have been the preferred platform in Malaysia with over half of the surveyed respondents in the country (51 percent) used the application for news. The scenario has undoubtedly raised a serious cause for concern regarding the spread of fake news among WhatsApp users. In relation to this, the Deputy Minister of Communications and Multimedia, Datuk Jailani Johari, has on 27 April 2017 reprimanded WhatsApp admins that as gatekeepers they may be exposed to legal actions including imprisonment, should they fail to control and prevent the spread of false information that could jeopardise national security among members of WhatsApp groups that they administer. Nonetheless, uncertainty arises as to the legality of this move as it seems to hold WhatsApp admins accountable not only for their own posts, but also for any false information that are disseminated by other members in their groups. As such, this article attempts to analyse relevant statutory provisions related to the proposed move and the potential liability of WhatsApp admins for illegal postings made by other group members.
