Malaysian social media influencers apologise over faking "missing" woman rescue mission in Indonesia jungle

BANDUNG: Malaysian social media stars Ammar Mohd Nazhan and Aras issued a public apology on Friday (Feb 7) after their live-streamed “rescue” of a fellow influencer, Eyka, in a forest in Kota Bandung turned out to have been faked.

Eyka, who posts beauty tips on TikTok to her 300,000 followers, supposedly vanished in the forest earlier this week, where she, Ammar, and others had gone. And while the dramatic “search and rescue” was watched by many on Wednesday night (Feb 5), the hoax has earned the ire of many and may have gotten the influencers into trouble with Indonesian law.

Videos put up by the influencers over TikTok and YouTube have gone viral, getting millions of views.

https://www.tiktok.com/@amnazhan/video/7467316048597978376?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7468660939828446742

The Indonesian news site KumparanNews quotes Bandung police chief Kompol Kurnia, saying on Feb 6, “The sensational content was made purely to increase viewership and followers. They did not realize that Indonesian law prescribes heavy penalties for those who spread false news. The content they created also did not receive approval from the authorities, despite being cleared by the local district manager.”

Mr Kompol added that the influencers have since apologized to the police via a written and video statement.

“We would like to apologize for what happened, and we promise not to repeat it,” they said in the video, which was also published on the TikTok account of KumparanNews.

https://www.tiktok.com/@kumparan/video/7468560711807995141

However, 22-year-old Eyka, whose real name is Nur Syafiqah, has yet to make a statement about the incident. When she had allegedly gone missing, Anmar had said that a search operation composed of his team, local villagers, police, and military personnel had been launched. He later said that Eyka received medical treatment after her “rescue.”

The incident has caused some of Ammar’s followers, who are 2.7 million strong on YouTube, to express their disapproval of his actions. While some have said that authorities in Indonesia need to teach the influencers a stronger lesson, others tagged Malaysia’s Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil, asking him to deal with them.

Mr Fahmi commented on the matter on Saturday (Feb 8), saying, “My advice is to practice moderation and not go overboard. Let us take this as a lesson to improve how we create content. Although we do not license influencers and content creators, we should take this as a lesson and avoid acting in such a manner.” /TISG

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