Government in bid to plant 'fake news law', rights lawyers warn

Rights laywers have warned the government against attempting to legislate anti-fake news laws through a set of amendments to the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, citing the insertion of terms such as “confusing” or “incomplete” into the definition of misuse of network facilities under Section 233 of the Act.

Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) said instead of fulfilling Pakatan Harapan's promise to repeal Section 233(1)(a), which criminalises the use of internet services to transmit content that could be deemed offensive and "cause annoyance" to another person, the proposed amendments tabled in the Dewan Rakyat on Monday would only make the law more draconian.

"It is obvious that the proposed amendment to Section 233 of the CMA is a backdoor attempt to introduce 'fake news' legislation," said LFL director Zaid Malek.

PH had vehemently opposed the Anti-Fake News Act, which was passed by former prime minister Najib Razak's government just weeks before his ouster in the general election.

A year later, the PH government under Dr Mahathir Mohamad scrapped the law, in a move welcomed by rights groups and journalists who said the Act was aimed at suppressing voices critical of the government.

Zaid reminded PH that it holds the three relevant positions of power - prime minister, home minister and communications minister - allowing it to easily honour its promise to repeal Section 233.

"This is an utter betrayal by Pakatan Harapan of their longstanding promise to the people that they would repeal Section 233," he said.

Zaid questioned the replacement of the word "false" in amending Section 233, with the words “confusing” or “incomplete” or “untrue”, saying it would only "massively widen the offence".

"It will put fear upon the public and prevent them from participating discussions regarding matters of public interest. It would have chilling effect on freedom of speech.

"It would mean that allegations of corruption, abuse of power or general criticisms of the government cannot take place unless the public have the complete and full facts of every aspect of any matter or allegation. Otherwise, they could be nabbed and charged for the offence under Section 233(1)(a) of the CMA," he said.

Section 233, which has often been used against social media users and opposition leaders who criticise Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, carries a fine of up to RM500,000 or two years' jail.

Zaid said PH being the government should withdraw the amendments and instead repeal Section 233(1) in its entirety.

"We remind the government of their duty to uphold freedom of speech, a right guaranteed under Article 10(1)(a) of the Federal Constitution.

"A government supposedly dedicated to transparency and reform should make this right paramount,as it is the very basis of a functioning democracy and what empowers the people to keep the government in check without fear of reprisals."

Other changes proposed by the government include giving more powers to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), the agency under the communications ministry that is behind a number of blockages of news sites critical of the government.

The amendments would also grant MCMC and its officials immunity from prosecution or other proceedings.