PETALING JAYA: Barisan Nasional has urged the authorities to investigate Pakatan Harapan for allegedly manipulating its social media data.

"We want the authorities to investigate as there is a possibility of foreign interference and manipulation of data," said Umno Youth deputy chief Khairul Azwan Harun at a press conference here on Monday (May 7).

Khairul Azwan claimed that Facebook Live viewers on Pakatan's pages were bought.

He alleged that agencies selling social media viewers can cost more than RM600,000 for 200,000 viewers.

He gave an example of Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir's ceramah in Jerlun that had 14,000 viewers on each video that was broadcast live on three Pakatan-aligned Facebook pages.

He added that Pakatan's claims that its viewers had increased to 42,000 were not true.

"I have proof that there is manipulation and fabrication of data on Pakatan's social media achievements to influence and corrupt the minds of the rakyat and the voters," he said.

Khairul Azwan clarified that he has not lodged a police report on these allegations.

He also declined to identify who or which country would influence the results of the nation's general election.

Barisan Nasional Strategic Communications (BNSC) deputy director Datuk Eric See-To, who was also at the press conference, said he was worried of the possibility of the involvement of external forces meddling in the nation's general election.

"We want our domestic politics to be for Malaysians only. We do not want foreigners to meddle with our choices," he said.

See-To alleged that the manipulation of data by Pakatan was not ethical.

He added that he would leave it to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission, the police, and the Attorney-General's Chambers to decide whether Pakatan's actions were against the law.