Malaysia’s shaky, deeply unpopular government is seeking to regain control of the narrative in the internet age via dramatic use of police power to harass and investigate activists, journalists, and social media users. Foreign news reports from investigative journalism websites Asia Sentinel and Sarawak Report have been blocked periodically by the Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission.
Local media rarely issue critical reports out of fear of prosecution. Blogs, like Mariam Mokhtar’s Rebuilding Malaysia are suffering periodic distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, in which targeted websites are flooded with tens of thousands of responses, overloading the websites and crashing them.
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Calls for ‘fake news’ laws need strict scrutiny to ensure public’s rights are preserved A sign for Thailand’s anti-fake news centre, in Bangkok on November 1, 2019. Photo: Reuters
As the debate about the pros and cons of a fake news law for Hong Kong is in full swing, it is instructive to examine legal developments and experiences in other places. There is no shortage of case studies, but they are not very encouraging.
In Southeast Asia, which is perhaps the most vibrant laboratory for anti-falsehood laws, parliaments in Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Manila and Singapore have enacted or amended criminal falsehood legislation in recent years. This has often occurred at times of increased political pressure and electoral competition, which led critics to question legislators real intentions.
Groundhog day for Fake News in Malaysia ifj.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from ifj.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
COMMENT | The fake news ordinance is more draconian than we think
Modified17 Mar 2021, 12:30 am
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COMMENT | On Thursday last week, March 11, the government published in the gazette the Emergency (Essential Powers) (No 2) Ordinance. The focus of this Ordinance is specifically on fake news in relation to Covid-19 and the proclamation of emergency. It came into force on March 12, 2021.
News of this latest ordinance (hereinafter referred to as the “fake news ordinance”) has obviously drawn comparison with the repealed Anti-Fake News Act 2018, introduced under the BN government in 2018 and repealed under the Pakatan Harapan government in 2020.
The initial responses to this fake news ordinance have focused on the very unique rationale of the new law, namely to combat fake news not just on Covid-19, which may be understandable, but also on the proclamation of emergency.