THE Perikatan Nasional (PN) Government should stop using the Emergency proclamation to stifle criticism, criminalising ‘fake news’ under a new Emergency ordinance.
According to the Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ), the unfettered powers given to the current administration under the Emergency Proclamation and the Emergency (Essential Powers) (No. 2) Ordinance 2021, shows the Government’s continued attempts to undermine the media’s fundamental rights and freedoms.
The ordinance, among others, provides for an RM100,000 fine, three-year imprisonment term or both, for the publication and distribution of “fake news” relating to COVID-19 or the Emergency Proclamation.
It also gives anyone found to have published “fake news” a 24-hour notice to take down said post or be liable to an RM100,000 fine, allows for the police (subject to a court order) to take “necessary measures” to take down “fake news”, and allows the police access to computerised data, including passwords and encryption codes, or risk a fine, jail term or both.
“What is equally alarming is the opportunistic nature of the current government, under the guise of an emergency, to re-introduce specific elements of the Anti-Fake News Act 2018, which was repealed by the previous Pakatan Harapan (PH) government,” said CIJ executive director Wathshlah G Naidu in a statement late yesterday.
“(The term) ‘fake news’ is not clearly defined in the law, opening the real possibilities of abuse through arbitrary arrests, investigations and punitive actions being taken against the alleged offender. We anticipate further surveillances and invasions of our privacy, arbitrary censorships of critical and dissenting media reports, and thus, attacks on media freedom, and disproportionate crackdowns on legitimate speech such as dissent and misinformation,” she added.
Wathshlah also highlighted that using the ordinance will go against the fundamental norms of freedom of expression and speech, as enshrined in the Federal Constitution and international standards.
“As such, the Government must immediately withdraw the Emergency (Essential Powers) (No. 2) Ordinance 2021,” she concluded. – March 12, 2021
