GEORGE TOWN: Two incidents in Penang last week illustrate how social media postings can lead to red faces or noisy protests.
In the first case that occurred in Balik Pulau at about 3pm last Monday, a hunt for the best durians in town was mistaken for an attempt to kidnap a child.
The boy was cycling to school when a car approached and slowed down alongside him. The boy was startled and reported the incident to his father who assumed that it was an attempt to abduct his son and made known his suspicions on his Facebook page.
The post went viral immediately.
On learing about the post, the driver of the car immediately went to the police station to explain that he was only asking the boy for directions to a durian farm.
South-West district police chief Supt V. Anbalagan said an investigation eventually showed that no further action was warranted.
In the second case on the following day, 200 production workers at a solar panel production plant in Seberang Perai staged a protest when they learned that a video clip depicting the plant manager describing them as “rubbish” for behaving in a lackadaisical manner had gone viral.
The police, who were alerted, went to the plant at about 8.30am and immediately urged everyone to calm down.
Seberang Perai Tengah district police chief ACP Nik Ros Nik Azhan said the workers demanded an apology from the plant manager and he duly complied.
The video clip has been taken down from the web. The crowd dispersed at about 10.30am but a few who were still unsatisfied have been advised to lodge reports with the police.
