LONDON: Malaysia has moved forward to counter the narratives of terrorists and extremists especially on cyberspace by establishing a Counter-Messaging Centre, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said today. He said the move was part of the strategic approach to counter such extremism because the authorities were fully aware that terrorists were good at creating stories and rhetoric to influence social media users. “These stories have been flooding cyberspace and influencing social media users to believe that the stories are real, and the terrorists are fighting in the name of religion,” he said in his opening remarks at the Chatham House Roundtable Discussion here. The Deputy Prime Minister said the Regional Digital Counter-Messaging Centre synchronised efforts to counter radical social media messages and present the true image of Islam, within Asean and beyond. Malaysia, he said, was also working closely in cooperation with other international partners in the pursuit and implementation of its deradicalisation strategy.

Source: New Strait Times November 08, 2016 12:33 UTC