KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 9, 2012): The government today rubbished claims that 'clones' had been used to bloat the number of National Day-themed tweets sent on Merdeka.
Insisting that the figure is accurate, Deputy Information, Communications and Culture Minister Datuk Maglin Dennis D'Cruz said there had been no tampering to reach the 3.6 million tweet mark.
"Many people actually wanted to support Merdeka and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak," he told reporters after launching the 'Kembara Merdeka' book here today.
Social media research house Politweet.org had reportedly said the ministry's claim that #Merdeka55 had been tweeted 3.6 million times between 8.15pm and 9.15pm on Aug 31 was doubtful as there was no third party verification.
According to Politweet, there was an 'odd pattern' during the hour, in which blocks of identical tweets were sent at the same time.
"Investigation revealed that a small group of users were responsible for a large volume of tweets. They had similar characteristics, such as account creation date, profile photos, location and follower/following relationships," it said.
D'Cruz said the ministry's target had been to reach one million tweets, adding there was no reason to bloat the actual figure.
"People can say anything, but we did everything properly. All of us involved in the attempt asked our friends, family and members of the public to take part," he said.
On Merdeka eve incidents which included a man mooning at Najib's photograph, D'Cruz said parents are responsible for bringing their children up properly.
"Don't let politics enter the home, otherwise children's minds will be polluted and they'll come out and start disrespecting the flag and the prime minister," he said.
The Tamil-language Kembara Merdeka book, written by Minnal FM deejay Johnson Sinappan, chronicles his experiences during a month-long journey through Peninsular Malaysia with only RM10 in his pocket.
Meanwhile, Penang chief minister who is also DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng questioned why Twitter has made no mention of the record as claimed by the ministry.
Pointing out that there were only five tweets from overseas according to news reports, Lim asked minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim to prove that the figure is authentic and the tweets sent were not automated.
"Can we have an inquiry on this matter?" he added.
LA: There's nothing wrong with the tweets.
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