Najib declares war against Red Bean Army online
Open Facebook and Twitter accounts, attack them back, Umno president tells party members.
(Free Malaysia Today) – Umno president Najib Abdul Razak has called for open warfare with the DAP’s Red Bean Army online, urging Umno members to flood the Internet in a war of words to counter what he viewed as “false views” about the party and himself.
“Open Facebook and Twitter accounts. If you can’t be bloggers, being Facebook and Twitter practitioners is enough. When you see false views, you can counter them. When you see the party president being attacked, you can attack them back,” he said, according to Malaysiakini.
The Umno president has come under severe attack for months, from the political opposition as well as prominent critics such as former premier Mahathir Mohamad, over the affairs of the troubled government investment arm 1Malaysia Development Bhd and news of a US$700 million (RM2.75 billion at current rates) deposit in his personal bank accounts two years ago.
Speaking at Bandar Tun Razak Umno’s divisional meeting in Cheras today, Najib said Umno members must control the new political “battleground. Should all three million of Umno members be active on social media, the party would “dominate social media and defeat the Red Bean Army and all, because we have the strength”.
The Red Bean Army is a term used by Umno bloggers to describe the host of online critics and “keyboard warriors” – seen to be DAP supporters – who actively aggressively post news articles, comments, satirical photographs and banners against Najib and other Umno leaders.
The DAP has denied accusations that the party funds the network of online critics.
