If there is one thing that can be pointed out as the most insidious factor in the increased fracturing of our collective psyche, it is the war fought between pro-opposition and BN cybertroopers. The devolution of online rhetoric from intelligent debate to outright mudslinging has poisoned the well, so to speak, influencing the way we react to certain issues.

People have sometimes been accused of being herd animals when it comes to online outrage that leaves one party at the mercy of those who believe they are in the right in their crucifixion of that party.

You may be wondering what has occasioned this article. What trouble have cybertroopers now stirred? Well, it revolves around an accusation that Lim Guan Eng, Chief Minister of Penang, is worth RM2.8 billion ringgit, making him the 22nd richest person in this country. This neatly fits in with another cybertrooper accusation that Guan Eng is selling Penang piece by piece.

While we won’t deny that the CM has an authoritarian streak and appears to be deaf to Penangites’ concerns about ecological damage, it is hard to believe that he is a billionaire.

Let’s be clear here that our problem is with cybertroopers on both sides of the fence.

To see evidence of the insidious activity of pro-DAP cybertroopers, let’s look at what happened after Guan Eng sacked Kebun Bunga representative Cheah Kah Peng and Bukit Tengah representative Ong Chin Wen from their positions in state agencies. The CM went on a rampage, accusing the two of colluding with Pakatan Harapan’s political enemies to sabotage his administration.

Interestingly enough, a number of Facebook “profiles” began posting articles virtually repeating Guan Eng’s words – “betrayers … in collusion with the enemy … untrustworthy … out to smear the administration” and so on. Some of these profiles were genuine defenders of the CM, while others were devoid of any history, activity, or presence other than through the comments they make in the comments sections of news sites. Such comments are indeed tell-tale signs of cybertrooping.

For another example, let’s recall what happened last year after a delegate to the Penang DAP convention, one Shamser Singh Thind, called for Penang to be led by someone local instead of the Johor-born Lim. The call was met with a thunderous applause at the convention, but not so much online, where many accused Shamser of being a traitor, an Umno agent out to ruin the Penang administration.

One could rail endlessly about the arrogance of it all.

No party is particularly innocent when it comes to venomous sentiment spread by cybertroopers. Whether or not the parties themselves are directly responsible for the rhetoric is irrelevant to the lesson we can draw from this sick activity. It doesn’t matter whether the cybertroopers are pro-government, pro-Najib or pro-opposition. Enough is enough, so that we can get back to intelligent discussions of current issues.