PUTRAJAYA’S attempt to formulate legislation to counter fake news will create a climate of fear, said critics who called the Anti-Fake News Bill 2018 tabled in Parliament today the biggest threat to democracy.

Centre for Independent Journalism (CiJ) director Sonia Randhawa said the bill was clearly an attempt to clamp down on political speech, discussion as well as investigative research and reporting.

“In comparison to the executive and the government, the press is a lot weaker and have less access to information, especially with the presence of the Official Secrets Act (OSA),” she told The Malaysian Insight.

“When the press publishes information which is in the public interest, what guarantee (is there) that they would not be prosecuted under this act?” she said.

The Anti-Fake News Bill 2018 proposes a maximum RM500,000 fine or a 10-year jail term for those found guilty of spreading false news.

The bill defines fake news as “any news, information, data and reports, which is or wholly or partly false, whether in the form of features, visuals or audio recordings or in any other form capable of suggesting words or ideas”.

Publications that reproduce “fake news” will be fined up to RM100,000 for the offence and RM3,000 for every day the offence continues.

It defines publication as “any written publication or publication of similar nature… or substantial reproduction of such publication”.

The bill appears to give authority to the courts to determine what is fake news as it allows “any person affected by a publication containing fake news” to apply to the courts for removal of those articles.

Sonia said the bill does not explicitly state a “standard of proof” of what constitutes false news.

“It seems to rest on the judge whether the person knows in advance if the news is false or not,” she said.

National Union of Journalists (NUJ) secretary-general Chin Sung Chew also expressed concerns that the proposed bill will give the government “unquestionable power to remove articles it disagreed with”.

Kua Kia Soong, adviser to rights group Suaram, said there are already existing provisions in the Sedition Act, the Penal Code, and the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 to deal with contentious online content.

“In order to encourage an open and healthy democratic system, it is the role of the government to create the space that promotes news literacy and professional investigative journalism,” said Kua.

“Only when our news industry provides what we see as high-quality, professional and independent journalism can we build public trust and correct fake news and disinformation.”

Media freedom activist Gayathry Venkiteswaran said controlling the sharing of dubious or illegal content should be done through “self-regulation and encouraging people to have more healthy conversations and debates online”, and not through laws that would hinder the freedom of expression.

Padang Serai MP N. Surendran, who is also a lawyer, slammed the fake news bill as arbitrary, oppressive and unconstitutional, saying the public will not be able to freely exercise their right to free speech “with the constant threat of arrest and prosecution hanging over their head”.

“It will lead to a paralysis of participatory democracy in our country as freedom of speech is the bedrock of democracy,” he said in a statement.

“Healthy and open public discourse will come to an end.”

Surendran said the bill was in complete contravention of the federal constitution and was thus invalid and unconstitutional.

“Any law that goes beyond the ambit of the restriction to freedom of speech allowed in Article 10(2)(a) is not a valid law.

“Thus, it can be said that the anti-fake news law is itself a fake law, and repugnant to the rule of law,” he said, calling upon the government to withdraw the bill in its totality. – March 26, 2018.