Malaysian influencers apologise for faking disappearance in Indonesia forest for views
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The influencers claimed that a friend had gone missing for 48 hours while producing content about paranormal activities.
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION: PIXABAY
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BANDUNG - Two Malaysian influencers on Feb 7 apologised after claiming in a TikTok livestream that a friend had “disappeared” in a forest in Kota Bandung, Indonesia, reported Sinar Harian.
The influencers, Mr Ammar Mohd Nazhan and Mr Aras, also expressed regret for having caused discomfort to many parties, said the Malay language daily, citing a statement reported by Indonesian news outlet KumparanNews.
“We would like to apologise for what happened and we promise not to repeat it,” said the influencers in a video received by KumparanNews.
The two men also wrote a letter to the Indonesian police with their apology and admitted that the content they produced was purely an act.
Panyileukan police chief Commissioner Kurnia said previously that according to a statement given to the police, the duo had, on a TikTok live broadcast on Feb 2, claimed that a female influencer had gone missing for 48 hours while producing content about paranormal activities.
The video was produced on Bukit Embah Garut in Cisurupan Village, located in Kota Bandung’s Cibiru District.
“The sensational content was created solely to increase the number of views and followers. They were not aware that Indonesian law imposes strict penalties for the spread of fake news,” Mr Kurnia was quoted as saying.
“The content they created also did not get permission from the authorities, even though it had been approved by the local regional manager.”
Mr Ammar had earlier confirmed with news portal mStar on Feb 5 that Malaysian social media personality Eyka had gone missing after going into the forest in Indonesia.
Mr Ammar, who had led the group that headed into the forest, said then: “At that time more than 20 people had joined the excursion but only seven, including Eyka, entered the forest.
“We realised she had gone missing at around 2am on Feb 3 after doing ‘paranormal activities’ in the forest... She was the only woman who entered the forest and she was also on her period then,” he added.
A police report was lodged after 48 hours as per the regulations in Indonesia.
Mr Ammar told mStar then that villagers, the local police, and army were involved in the search for Ms Eyka. THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
