Malaysia’s government proposed new legislation on Monday to outlaw fake news with a 10-year jail term for offenders, a move slammed by critics as a draconian bid to crack down on dissent ahead of a general election.
Prime Minister Najib Razak has been dogged by a multibillion-dollar corruption scandal involving an indebted state fund, and rights activists fear the new law could be used to criminalize news reports and critical opinions on government misconduct. A general election must be held by August but is widely expected in the next few weeks.
The anti-fake news bill, which must be approved by parliament, calls for penalizing those who create, offer, circulate, print or publish fake news or publications containing fake news with a 10-year jail term, a fine of up to 500,000 ringgit ($128,000) or both.
The bill defines fake news as “any news, information, data and reports which is, or are, 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.” It covers all mediums and extends to even foreigners outside Malaysia as long as Malaysia or its citizens are affected.
“This is an attack on the press and an attempt to instill fear among the (people)” before the general election, opposition lawmaker Ong Kian Ming tweeted.
Government officials have said the law is needed to protect public harmony and national security. They have accused the opposition coalition of using fake news as a key weapon to win votes and warned that any news on the indebted 1MDB state fund that had not been verified by the government is fake.
The US and several other countries are investigating allegations of cross-border embezzlement and money laundering at 1MDB, which was set up and previously led by Najib to promote economic development, but which accumulated billions in debt. The US Justice Department says at least $4.5 billion was stolen from 1MDB by associates of Najib, and it is working to seize $1.7 billion taken from the fund to buy assets in the US, potentially its largest asset seizure ever.
Najib, who denies any wrongdoing, has fired critics in his government and muzzled the media since the corruption scandal erupted three years ago.
Support for Najib’s ruling coalition has dwindled in the last two elections. In 2013, it lost the popular vote for the first time to the opposition. Yet, analysts say Najib is expected to win a third term due to infighting in the opposition, unfavorable electoral boundary changes and strong support for the government among rural ethnic Malays.
Critics say the anti-fake news bill will add to a range of repressive laws — including a sedition law, a press and publications act, an official secrets act and a security act — that have been used against critics, violated freedom of expression and undermined media freedom. A coalition of human rights and civic groups also has expressed concern that the government is rushing through the legislation, without consulting key stakeholders and releasing details in advance for public scrutiny.
Hit-and-run attackers have killed two journalists in 24 hours in separate incidents that underlined India's reputation as one of the most dangerous places for reporters, police said Monday.
Police on Monday detained a former village chief in Bihar state accused of running over and killing Navin Nischal, a reporter for Dainik Bhaskar, a major Hindi-language newspaper.
A television journalist, Sandeep Sharma, was mown down by a truck in the central state of Madhya Pradesh in the second attack.
Nischal and an associate Vijay Singh were on a motorcycle when they were run over in Bhojpur, about 50 miles (80 kilometres) from the Bihar state capital of Patna on Sunday.
Police said they had detained Mohammad Harsu, a former village chief in the region, after Nischal's brother registered a formal complaint.
“He said it was a murder as he (Nischal) had an argument with the former village head yesterday,” Bhojpur police superintendent Avkash Kumar told AFP.
Kumar said a murder case had been registered against Harsu and they were also seeking his son.
Media reports said Harsu and his son fled the accident scene and his sports utility vehicle was set on fire by local people.
Sharma, 35, had been investigating the illegal trade in sand for a television channel.
The journalist “had told the district administration he feared he could be killed by the 'sand mafia'”, his nephew Vikas Purhoit said in a complaint to the police, according to the Press Trust of India news agency.
CCTV footage of the attack early Monday, in Bhind district 300 miles from the state capital Bhopal, went viral on social media. It showed Sharma walking on the side of the road when a truck swerved and ran over him.
Media reports said Sharma had exposed links between a police official and illegal sand mining operators.
Three journalists were reported killed in 2017 in India.
Journalists in the world's largest democracy often face harassment, frivolous litigation and intimidation by police, politicians and criminal gangs.
Many work in hostile conditions in conflict-ridden zones.
In New Delhi last week media and civil rights groups protested after two journalists were assaulted by Delhi police as they covered a student protest in the national capital.
