The willingness of both media and social media to make statements in support of the claim are symptomatic of a much wider problem: that of stories going viral in a way that cannot be countermanded.

The facts were this: a woman claimed that she kept some MYR31,000 in the savings account but when she checked the account, there was under MYR2,000.

The damage to the government which indirectly oversees the Fund and to the management and trustees of the Fund was immediate and severe with many openly accusing the fund of "losing" or worse her money. Over a period of days, the story grew.

And then after a senior manager of the Fund went to visit her, the woman issued a statement: " I retract everything I have said about Tabung Haji and apologise for it. I regret the inconvenience caused by my remarks and the impact they had on Tabung Haji"."

In fact, the funds had been transferred, in a series of transactions, to her own bank account. Tabung Haji said it accepted her apology and that the matter was concluded.

Except that it wasn't.

The story continued to bubble up in social media as people who had paid attention to the story but had not followed it, continued to allege that the money was missing and the Fund was to blame.

The situation was made worse by the fact that the story was in both the English and the Malay media where there is often a mismatch. It was Malay social media that had been particularly active and where the follow-ups were not carried with the same vigour.

The importance is that an evolving situation can easily lead to adverse media where none is justified and the lack of corrections across, in particular, social media can skew results of automated systems which record but do not analyse content.

The case is a clear warning that results must not be treated as conclusive and effective review should be undertaken.

https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2024/03/1023438/tabung-haji-accepts-…