A FRESH bill to repeal the Anti-Fake News Act 2018 (Act 803) was tabled today for a first reading in the Dewan Rakyat by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Liew Vui Keong.

The bill will get a second reading in the current sitting. 

“The Bill seeks to provide for the repeal of Act 803 due to the change in the policy of the government that fake news may be dealt with under existing laws such as the Penal Code(Act 574) the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984(Act 301) and the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998(Act 588),” the bill read. 

“As such, Act 803 is no longer relevant.” 

The Anti-Fake News Act was passed on April 11,  2018  under the Barisan Nasional government. 

The Pakatan Harapan government’s previous attempt to repeal the act was unsuccessful after a bill was rejected by the Dewan Negara in September last year. – October 7, 2019.