PETALING JAYA: News agency Bernama today sought to distance itself from a Facebook comment on Dr Zakir Naik’s apology video featuring an animated picture of a dog, saying it was not its doing.
In a statement, it said an internal inquiry had found that the dog GIF was not the work of anyone within the agency.
“We believe our account has been hacked,” it said, adding that there had been a hacking attempt on its social media sites and main portal last week.
“In fact, there are many parties misusing the BNC or Bernama logo to spread fake news.
“We apologise to all netizens who are annoyed or hurt by the post.”
The comment in question was posted in response to the link to a video of Naik apologising to Malaysians for remarks deemed insulting to the country’s minorities.
The GIF, which has since been removed, featured a brown Dachshund licking its mouth as if in anticipation of food, with the caption “pls” on loop.