Hate speech targeting Rohingya resurfaces in Malaysia, misinformation fuels attacks

AFP A wave of political misinformation targeting the Rohingya population in Malaysia has sparked concern among human rights watch groups, fueling extreme hatred towards the refugee community and xenophobia, the groups said. AFP fact-checkers have identified and debunked numerous pieces of information as false, including many fake news stories about Rohingya, fabricated quotes, doctored videos, and fake statistical data shared on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. While anti-Rohingya fake news spread rapidly for years during the military crackdown in their native Myanmar, the recent surge is part of a broader political movement ahead of Malaysia's upcoming elections next year, analysts say. “Refugees are being used as a scapegoat target to express widespread concerns about the economy, immigration, public services, security and national identity in the most hateful terms,” said Lilianne Fan, director of the secretariat of the Malaysian advisory council on Myanmar. “The main message they want to convey in the end is that ‘the government is not listening to the voice of the people.’” Malaysia hosts over 215,000 refugees and asylum seekers through the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). Of these, over 126,000 are Rohingya, making them the country’s largest refugee population. Anti-Rohingya sentiment surged in late May after social media posts accused Rohingya of dumping waste from a slaughterhouse during Eid al-Adha, a major Islamic holiday in Malaysia. This incident led to an online petition calling for the government to resettle Rohingya refugees “to another country,” which garnered nearly 500,000 signatures before being taken down. The Malaysian Human Rights Commission also issued a statement last month expressing “deep concern over the rise in hostility, discriminatory language and online attacks targeting the Rohingya community.” ‘Prioritising outrage over accuracy’ Along with the wave of hate speech, rumours have also surfaced claiming Rohingya are demanding their own territory, special rights and citizenship through marriage to Malaysian nationals. One Facebook post from a group called “Rohingya Malaysia” claimed there was a demand to transfer a Malaysian city to the regional refugee community. However, AFP fact-checkers found that the post, which received tens of thousands of interactions, was AI-generated and that no such activist group existed. A screenshot of another Instagram post showed a man in robes kicking a person dressed in traditional Malaysian attire, with the caption: “Rohingya are driving out Malaysians.” AFP contacted the owner of the account in the United States, who denied the doctored image and claimed they had not posted it. Dozens of other posts identified by AFP also falsely claimed that two million children had been born to Malaysian-Rohingya households, using fake news. This figure is incorrect according to official data and experts have dismissed it as “impossible.” “Algorithms prioritise outrage over accuracy, so they generalise an individual incident to the entire Rohingya refugee community,” said Lilianne Fan, an expert on Rohingya affairs. Victoire Rio, a fact-checking analyst based in France, analysed some of the accounts behind the posts and found “many accounts with a history of monetising on Facebook” as partner publishers. “Economically motivated campaigns tend to rely on politically contentious issues like the Rohingya refugee issue, because these issues create division and are very fertile ground for capitalising on outrage,” Rio said. ‘Fear of being targeted’ Malaysian civil society groups have also expressed concern over the rise in hate speech and threats targeting Rohingya, with activists saying any controversial incident involving the ethnic group amplifies hostility. “Community members are very hesitant to share their experiences or ask for help because they are afraid of becoming targets of online abuse or public hostility,” said an official from the Rohingya Rights Response campaign, who requested anonymity due to security concerns. Despite hosting the largest refugee population in Southeast Asia, Malaysia has not signed the 1951 Refugee Convention and does not officially recognise refugee status. Regarding calls for deportation, Malaysian Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution said last month that the government would work with other countries with large migrant populations to balance security and humanitarian concerns. Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim added that Malaysia would “engage with the Myanmar authorities to resolve part of the problem through ASEAN processes.” “Through our joint efforts, we will work to resolve the difficulties faced by Rohingya refugees, both in Bangladesh and here,” he said at a joint press conference with the Prime Minister of Bangladesh.