This Wednesday, Malaysian authorities have declared that they will soon begin a large-scale major crackdown to bring down the local criminal gangs using the highly popular social networking websites, like Facebook and Twitter, which are being used to actually recruit teenager as their "street fighters." Star Daily, a local source reported that Hishammuddin Hussein, the Malaysian home minister, has said that the government will be launching these crackdowns after observing extra ordinary growth of the online recruitment pages in recent months.
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Image via WikipediaHishammuddin also stated that "The ministries, including the Information, Communications, and Culture Ministry, the (multimedia) commission and the police will be brought in to tackle the issue." "They all have their own expertise and it is just a matter of coordinating them to achieve the goal," he added. He announced that since this will be a very large crackdown; the authorities will not at all be lenient, he declared that in this crackdown even crime like money laundering to drug trafficking will be considered as the same level of crime as terrorism, and the authorities will aim to bring down all types of organized crime. He ended his words stating that "They are all related and are a serious threat not only at the national level but also the international level." Obviously no further descriptive details about the crackdown were shared.
Citing from the local newspapers, it was very much highlighted how the local underworld groups were completely involved in these social networking website, especially Facebook was among the most criticized. It said that Facebook, including other social media websites too, were easily used to recruit large number of members, and even sadly they mentioned that most of these recruits were not adult but the age of secondary school students.
A local news source, Star had published, that more and more students are falling prey to these invitations on Facebook. It specifically mentioned the story of a local boy "Aru," who had confessed that he joined a gang called "36 or Satu Hati (United)" through Facebook wall posting which had led him to the gang's website. It elaborated that potential recruits of gangs are asked to fill in long questionnaires which inquired regarding their previous gang fight experiences to determine the level of wit for the training to become "street fighters". Aru stated that "Once all the questions are answered, you would become their Facebook pal," he went on also informing that "There is a life membership fee of 36 ringgit ($12). Payment is made through online banking."
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