DAP’S Lim Kit Siang has questioned whether the proposed law against fake news will be used to prosecute government leaders and those from the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition.

The Gelang Patah lawmaker said the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission’s (MCMC) proposed changes to the legislation should be enforced fairly.

“Can MCMC guarantee that such a law, with a 10-fold increase in penalties, will be used fairly and impartially against all, regardless of their office or political affiliation, including the prime minister and cabinet ministers?” he said in a statement today.

Lim alleged that on numerous occasions, Prime Minister Najib Razak had levelled accusations against him, which could be deemed as fake.

“I am one of the biggest victims of Najib and Umno-BN’s fake news.

“Will MCMC charge Najib under the new law, where the prime minister is liable to a RM500,000 fine and/or 10 years’ jail for spreading fake news?”

It was reported that MCMC wants the punishment meted out for spreading fake news to be increased to a fine of RM500,000 and 10 years’ imprisonment.

Lim also questioned whether national issues that did not reflect well on the government, like the 1Malaysia Development Bhd scandal, could be labelled as fake news.

“Najib has claimed that the 1MDB scandal and ‘MO1’ (Malaysian Official No. 1) are fake news.

“Will the new penalties be used against Malaysians for raising questions about the 1MDB scandal or MO1 issue?”

Several media groups and lawyers are concerned that the new law would be used to target independent media outlets that publish reports not in line with Putrajaya’s views.

Groups like Lawyers for Liberty fear that the new law would stifle freedom of speech and be used to ban reports critical of the government.

The Malaysian Bar, which represents 16,000 lawyers in the peninsula, had said Malaysia had sufficient laws to curb the spread of fake news.

Najib recently said the new legislation was necessary, as fake news posed a threat to political stability and public order.

A special task force was formed last month to come up with the new legislation, which will be presented in the next parliamentary sitting, due to start on March 5. – February 18, 2018.