The Malaysian government is seeking to prevent the spread of fake news by introducing draconian penalties for anyone caught publishing or passing on false information.
Under a proposed new law, anyone convicted of knowingly creating or spreading “news, information, data and reports which is or are wholly or partly false” could be jailed for up to ten years and fined up to £90,000.
Blogs, public forums and social media accounts would be covered, as well as professional media.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Eric Paulsen, co-founder of Malaysian human rights group Lawyers for Liberty, told the BBC: “The bill is 100% intended to muffle dissent... the punishment is extremely high and what amounts to fake news has been loosely defined.”
It would apply to anyone publishing fake news concerning Malaysia or its people, which means foreigners as well as Malaysian citizens could be prosecuted.
“On paper, the bill aims to deter the spread of fake news, particularly on social media platforms,” says the Strait Times. “But journalists and opposition politicians fear that it could be used to target them.”
The bill was tabled today in the Malaysian parliament, where a vote within the next few weeks “should not pose any hurdles” to it becoming law, says the Strait Times.
Continue reading for free
We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.
Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.
-
What to know when filing a hurricane insurance claimThe Explainer A step-by-step to figure out what insurance will cover and what else you can do beyond filing a claim
-
How fees impact your investment portfolio — and how to save on them
The Explainer Even seemingly small fees can take a big bite out of returns
-
Enemy without
Cartoons
-
Spain spends €258m on trains too big for tunnels
feature And other stories from the stranger side of life
-
Animal shelter will name cat litter tray after your ex
feature And other stories from the stranger side of life
-
‘Unsettling’ bid to bring dodo back to life
feature And other stories from the stranger side of life
-
Your LinkedIn contact could be a deepfake
feature And other stories from the stranger side of life
-
AI beats humans at bridge
feature And other stories from the stranger side of life
-
Who masterminded largest-ever cyberattack on Israel?
Under the Radar Defence officials point finger at Iran after government websites knocked offline
-
‘It is the internet’: Rohingya launch $150bn Facebook lawsuit over genocide hate speech
In Depth Victims in UK and US legal action claim social media giant failed to prevent incitement of violence
-
‘Facebook for Palestinians’: inside Israel’s facial recognition surveillance system
In Depth Tech tells soldiers whether a person should be ‘detained, arrested or left alone’
