Kuala Lampur, Dec. 27 -- In the early months of Covid-19, Malaysia was confronted with a harsh test of national preparedness. Amid the scramble to save lives, the country rushed to procure 136 ventilators for critically ill patients. Yet when they arrived, 104 were found to be unusable. It was not negligence but desperation, as every nation was scrambling for the same lifesaving machines, and global supply chains were severely disrupted. The episode exposed a painful truth: in a global crisis, dependence on external technological supply quickly becomes a national vulnerability.

At the same time, Malaysia also faced a parallel epidemic in the form of misinformation, pseudoscience, and conspiracy theories. False claims circulated widely: t...