THE government must be firm in effectively dealing with lies, hate speech and hate crimes for the sake of national unity, said Lim Kit Siang. 

He said a failure to do so would result in inciting suspicion, distrust and hatred among races and religions in Malaysia’s plural society.

The Iskandar Puteri MP said the insidiousness of lies, fake news and hate speech had reached a new level in Malaysia. 

“DAP is on the one hand, accused of being anti-Malay and anti-Islam by one group while, at the same time, accused of having sold out the rights and interests of the Chinese and non-Muslim religions by another group, with both groups working in tandem with each other,” he said. 

He also gave several examples of how he was personally made a target of such attacks in the past years, including his alleged role in the May 13, 1969 riots.

“These lies, fake news, false claims and hate speech took on great potency in the last decade with the advent of the information age and the era of social media but no one had been arrested or prosecuted for these lies and hate crimes.”

He added that one of the lessons from the fall of the former Pakatan Harapan government after only 22 months was the need for an effective law to deal with the lies, hate speech and hate crimes. 

“Will Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin give full support, for the sake of national unity, for strong and effective action to be taken against such lies, hate speech and hate crimes in Malaysia? 

“Malaysia urgently needs strong and effective action against hate speech and hate crimes which, if unchecked, could plunge Malaysia into greater disunity and polarisation resulting in a failed state,” he said.

Lim added that Malaysia’s diversity must be regarded as an asset and not a liability, and not just referred to during the launching of national unity plans or blueprints.

He was referring to the launch of the National Unity Policy and the National Unity Blueprint 2021-2030 by Muhyiddin two days ago.

He said that Malaysia must learn lessons from elsewhere, especially from the United States, of fake news, false claims and hate speech in the era of social media, failing which the government’s new unity policy and blueprint “would be utterly meaningless”. – February 17, 2021.