Abstract

Everyone has a social media platform. News can be published online on social media platforms. One of the most concerning issues in Malaysia is how they portray news related to race and religion. This can be a sensitive topic, resulting in less discussion. Social media provides a great medium to discuss and raise awareness about racial discrimination. This issue also managed to reach the youth since most of them are on social media. They are willing to speak up about taboo topics, thus reducing racism in the younger generation. Even so, in the times when engagement is important in order to increase one’s popularity, quite a number of users take advantage of how sensitive topics will create a huge argument, so they use a headline that is misleading. Fake news is used in order to gain engagement. This propaganda will cause the community to split due to disagreement. This will lead to misunderstanding and hatred, especially in racial and religious issues. Stereotypes and prejudice will be worse. Social media can be a platform to unite us as well as to separate us. It depends on the intention of the user.

Introduction

Newspapers were the only way for people to get to the latest information in the past. It was the only source for social affairs and incidents. Getting our hands on the latest news helps one in understanding the world and contributing to the society. In modern society, newspapers are not the only option. In fact, people rarely read newspapers anymore. Online news and social media are more preferred when it comes to getting to know the latest news. It is said to be easier and faster due to immediate access. Newspaper publishers have their own websites for online newspapers. Most of them are active on social media such as Facebook, Instagram, and X, which is also known as Twitter. Social media has become a new platform for spreading information about social events and accidents. Since Malaysia is a multiracial country, which is the home of the Chinese, Malays, Indians and indigenous people, racial and religious news is taken seriously, and the publisher plays an important role in presenting the news to the public. News can pull people closer and unite the people, while it also can cause negative effects such as stereotypes and racism. It is important to publish news in a careful manner, taking into consideration of numerous aspects. This paper will discuss the positive and negative effects of social media news.

Speaking out on racial problems

Everyone is on social media nowadays. It is an effective medium to publicise an issue. Posting news on Facebook and Instagram will reach to a wide audience, thus raising awareness of racial problems. This sets off a chain reaction of change since the problem is brought to attention. It acts as the starting point, and people will react to it. Strong reactions will cause changes in the society. People will speak up for their people, spreading the awareness further. This gained the attention of the ministry in order to solve the issues. This benefits the party that was treated unequally. Unlike newspapers, social media provides a space for discussion. The comment sections express how the readers feel, and their thoughts on it will be argued. For instance, there was news about a non-Muslim who was accused of being a Muslim and not fasting during the fasting period (Syed Jaymal Zahiid, 2025). The incident spread like wildfire on the internet, and it gained the attention of the police. People are voicing out on how unfair it is for the victim, hoping justice will be served. Without the internet, this incident might have been gone unnoticed. The discussion will benefit the society in a way that people are exchanging ideas and learning about other races. Understanding and respect can be built on it. As the example given, people are voicing out for the victim regardless of race or religion. They are aware of the assailant’s wrongdoings and are not going to cover it up for him. This shows that one will not have privilege when it comes to misconduct, no matter one’s race and religion. The one at fault will face its consequences. This incident will not be swept under the floor just because the victim is Chinese. In fact, society, regardless of whether it is Malay or Chinese, is not biased. It is safe to say people are thinking rationally on this matter instead of turning it into a racial issue, such as racism and cyberbullying. This shows that social media is efficient in closing the gap between two groups with different backgrounds and ethnicities (Wang, 2021).

Reaching younger generations

Most youngsters have their own accounts on different social media platforms. They prefer being online rather than printed media such as newspapers and magazines. Online newspapers are a great way for those who prefer to read on their electronic devices. However, not all young adults are interested in the news. One effective way is to expose the news on famous social media, making it easier to reach them. Media websites such as The Borneo Post and The Star publish news headlines on Instagram. Some include the news in their post, while others will include a link to be directed to the news. Posting news on those platforms helps to raise their awareness about current issues, especially racial and religious news. This encourages children and teenagers to read the news and be aware of current events. Alerting the younger generation about racial issues aids in removing stereotypes. The newer generation will get to understand more about different races, thus abolishing negative racial assumptions and beliefs in the future. The youths are more willing to voice out and take action. They are willing to fight for equality, either for themselves or others. They refuse to stay silent and bear with it.

Misinformation spreads easily

For the sake of views and clicks, they use misleading headlines for their posts. People react stronger when it comes to negative emotions such as anger and hatred. Negative news receives more interactions compared to good news, thus gaining more popularity. Clickbait will be used as the title in order to create engagement, even though it might take a negative turn. It attracts viewers’ attention easily because it rekindles issues that are concealed. After all, they are seen as taboo or sensitive topics. Words can be twisted, and titles that can cause misunderstanding are often abused. The wrong message will be conveyed if one does not understand the whole story. As the news stated earlier, as an example, people are judging how Muslims are irrational based on a person’s actions, while that is not the case. This is going to influence others who are not familiar with the topic. There are people commenting on how Malays are irrational because of that individual, but was countered by others trying to maintain the unity. However, that is not the case for every incident. There are cases in which the opposing voices are covered and vice versa. People are going to believe that because the media said so, leading to stereotypes and prejudice. A study by Castaño-Pulgarín et al. (2021) shows that social media intensified online hate, leading to crimes and violence.

Fake news is widely spread on social media. Misinformation happens when one is not aware of the truth and ends up spreading the rumour unintentionally. One should look deeper into the issue in order to confirm its accuracy. Fact-checking is needed to prevent misinformation and fake news. Nevertheless, news spreads fast on social media, which also applies to fake news. People share news without checking its credibility, and that is how misinformation spreads easily. A common fake news is that an alien is invading Earth or an actor has passed away, although it sounds harmless. When the focus is moved to a sensitive topic such as race and religion in Malaysia, it will cause serious harm. Farzaneh et al. (2024) talked about how social media can intensify the generalisation of a group of people, thus aggravating stereotypes and causing segregation. This can be seen clearly in how anger is triggered over fake news that Rohingya people are demanding citizenship (Augustin, 2020). Imagine if the case is about Malaysian citizens; it definitely will cause a huge backlash on social media, resulting in clashes between races. This is the result of disinformation, which is a piece of false information that is spread with the purpose to mislead. News can also be used as propaganda if the writer is ill-intended. That is why viewers should not unquestioningly believe any content they see on the internet, while users need to be responsible while using social media.

Feed on stereotypes and prejudice

Considering how misinformation spreads easily, as stated in the previous part, this will lead to hate speech. Subsequently, hate speech will lead to stereotypes and prejudice. Malaysia is a multiracial country, but that does not mean everyone understands another racial group well. There are numerous reasons why some people are not given the chance to mix with people from other races. When the contact is limited, people rely on media for answers. If the media news portrays it in a negative way, the idea will be formulated. This is how stereotypes are formed from social media news. News is supposed to be written in a neutral tone. However, there are cases in which news is biased toward a certain group. The context itself is prejudice, which will spread in the community, thus making the issue worse. The problem is racism and stereotypes already exist, and news on social media is abusing them, worsening the issue. Covid-19 is a great example of how news feeds on stereotypes. Discrimination exists in the community, and it worsens after the Covid-19 breakout. Covid-19 headlines are fuelling fears instead of providing facts. Because of that, Chinese are hated on and being called names. They are being portrayed as being cruel and eat everything that is alive. Chinese ended up being blamed for the pandemic. That shows how news, especially headlines, can have a huge impact because most people only focus on the headline instead of reading the whole news.

Conclusion

Publishing news on social media is a great way to spread awareness of racial and religious issues. It is a great medium that reaches countless people in a short amount of time. It also covers a wide range of readers. This helps the younger generation to be informed about current events and issues. A good publication promotes the unity of people of different races and religions. The youth are more willing to speak up, which helps eliminate racial discrimination. Despite the benefits, news can create miscommunication. Biased headlines can lead to misunderstanding. Racism and prejudice can spread from the news because they shape how people view a group of people related to it. Sadly, that is the reality of social media nowadays. Headlines are often used as clickbaits in order to gain engagement, and they make use of sensitive topics such as race because negative emotions are stronger and will cause a backlash. Media is a great medium to spread information. However, it needs to be used wisely. The problem is that many publishers are using news as an engagement tool instead of a way to raise awareness of social issues. Readers sometimes jump to conclusions and harshly criticise the individual involved. This is something we have to pay attention to. News should be reported in an accurate and truthful manner, without any judgment or bias. The main purpose of news is to help readers understand the world, not create a barrier between us. News influences the readers, which can be a wide range of people using social media. It will shape youngsters’ views on other races, either uniting or separating them. Ultimately, social media aids or worsens unity and relies on the responsibility of the user. The potential of social media is still a concern when it comes to maintaining a harmonious community.

Reference

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