KUALA LUMPUR: PKR’s R. Sivarasa created controversy today when he shared a fake TIME magazine cover featuring Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
In a Facebook posting today, the Subang Jaya Member of Parliament had posted an image of the fake magazine cover, and said the prime minister had “made once headlines again, for the wrong reasons.”
Referring to the text on the supposed cover, which claimed to have ranked Najib as ‘No 2 on the most corrupt list’, Sivarasa said it was a very serious title, rank or even accusation directed towards him.
“Will he now ‘claim’ to sue TIME magazine?” asked the opposition MP.
Sivarasa also shared an actual link to a TIME article dated March 17, that listed five countries facing corruption scandals, with Malaysia listed at number two.
However, social media users were quick to point out to Sivarasa that the cover he shared was fake, as TIME magazine’s March 28 edition featured Apple CEO Tim Cook.
Facebook user Nasir Jaafar labeled Sivarasa as having a “low class mentality”, while another user said the fake photo had showed up in his timeline several times.
"A quick search on Google and I know it’s fake. I don’t know if MP Sivarasa or anyone who shared this actually knows how to use the search engine on the internet," he said.
Prominent blogger Lim Sian See also called out Sivarasa over his posting, and questioned whether he did it deliberately.
“It is true that 1MDB is listed in an article in Time magazine’s "scandals" but Najib's face was not on TIME as per that fake cover.
“Stop spreading fake covers as anyone can do one. As a Member of Parliament, you must be more responsible,” wrote the blogger.
The posting on Sivarasa’s page has been taken down at press time, but not before it was shared by numerous people.