'Action need to be taken fast, people must stop exploiting artistes for ratings and monetary gains', says Karyawan of malice that is threatening Malaysia and the region

The Star

20-05-2025

The Malaysian Artistes' Association (Karyawan) has asked members of the public not to be alarmed over a series of fake videos circulating freely which carry negative news about many our leading artistes including big names such as Datuk M.Nasir and Datuk David Arumugam.
Some of these videos created by these irresponsible parties paint a sad picture of these top artistes, including personal issues, sickness and in some cases even falsely reporting the death of the artiste concerned.
The trend is not new in Malaysia. Such issues have cropped in many countries especially in South-East Asia including th likes of the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia.
And in many occasions it is the artistes that have to pay the heavy price and some had been even picked up by the authorities for questioning on such issues.
'None of these (such fake news and malice intent) could be further from the truth. We are becoming increasingly concerned about this trend that is becoming more and more prevalent on social media.
"These videos are created by those who are willing to fabricate false stories about our artistes in order to chase views and money' said Karyawan President Datuk Freddie Fernandez.
'These videos also use fabricated voices and images from AI technology, to create catchy video titles that are supposedly exclusive, when in fact they are nothing but mere fabrications.'
'More worryingly, there is also content that at first glance seems to be shocking news about artistes, but when clicked on, it takes viewers to pages that sell various products.
'The names and images of the artistes are used without their permission, which is clearly a violation of their rights.
"This is not only immoral, but a form of blatant fraud and exploitation of artistes. It also confuses the public, makes fans panic, and damages the reputation of the artistes themselves, leading to losses in potential income for the artistes concerned' he added.
'We call on authorities such as MCMC (Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission) to monitor and block fake content like these from going viral. Platforms such as YouTube, TikTok and Facebook also need to be more strict in their monitoring to ensure the veracity of the content uploaded on their platforms.
'We also encourage the public to actively report fake videos like these. If many people report to the operating platform, their channels could be suspended or blocked immediately. We must all take responsibility so that our digital space becomes healthier and free from scams such as these.'
In some cases in recent times, many scammers have also been using AI to copy voices of famous actresses and actors, top singers and celebrities, to scam people from buying their products which has led to some people losing huge amounts of money.
'To fellow artists and art activists, let us unite to defend the dignity of our fellow artistes.
"And to all Malaysian citizens – do not easily believe everything that goes viral. Filter before sharing. In this era of AI, we are going to be faced with more and more fake content such as these. Let's work together to put these irresponsible people out of business," said Freddie.