FACULTY OF BUSINESS, COMMUNICATION AND LAW (FOBCAL)

BACHELOR OF MASS COMMUNICATION (HONS)

SEMESTER 2

Assignment Particulars

Course Code COM 3215

Lecturer MS Dihlvinder Kaur A/P Mohkam Singh

Assignment Individual Assignment - Fake News & Freedom of Speech

Title

Due Date 11th March 2020

Student’s Particulars

No Name ID No. Section

.

1. THIVIYA A/P RAMESH I17012919 1C1

 Freedom of Speech that was at stake with the enactment of

Anti-Fake News Act, 2018.

 Introduction

Fake news has outpaced the internet in recent years. Fake news sources are able

to quickly and easily disseminate false stories on social media websites, collecting

millions of likes, reviews, and shares, with some fake news also "trending" on some

network. The simplicity with which a publisher can build and distribute falsehoods

has contributed to an unparalleled size and power marketplace for misinformation.

The susceptibility of people to fake news means they are far less likely to receive

reliable political information and, thus, are unable to make informed decisions while

voting.

According to an article by Bernama News (Bernama, 2018), A total of 91

incidents were reported in 2018 concerning the distribution and sharing of fake news

on social media. The Ministry of Communications and Multimedia said the number

was 54 cases settled when 11 cases were brought to court for further proceedings. Due

to the cross-coordination strategy introduced by the Malaysian Communications and

Multimedia Commission (MCMC) with various government agencies to combat the

propagation of fake news, the figure also saw a 12.5 percent decrease compared to the

previous year. Malaysian advocate and activist on civil rights R. Sivarasa pointed out,

with a perfect blend of sarcasm and pathos, that the constitution of Malaysia, grants

freedom of speech, "but not the freedom after speech."

 Anti-Fake News Act, Malaysia 2018

The Anti-Fake News Act was passed on the cusp of last year's general election by

the former Barisan Nasional government. It has been blamed in large numbers for
stifling freedom of speech and restricting the media. The negative portion of the Act

centers on describing the fake news as ambiguous. Under the statute, false news is

described "either in the form of images, graphics or audio recordings or in any way

that may imply words or ideas" (any news, details or reports) which are wholly or

partly false.

 World Freedom Index, UNESCO

The World Press Liberty Index, which ranked 145 out of 180 in 2018,and the

Freedom House Freedom of the Press report, which received a "not free" ranking in

2017, has consistently earned low ratings in Malaysia. Free House further observed a

decrease in the country's Internet freedom in 2018, primarily as a result of the above

mentioned A few weeks before national elections the Anti-Fake News Act 2018 was

enacted by the Malaysian Parliament in April 2018 (UNESCO, 2019). Human rights

have been widely criticized by laws. A couple weeks before the national elections

took place, the Anti-Fake News Act 2018 was passed by the Malaysian Parliament in

April 2018. The law was widely criticized and there have been allegations of a

weakening of the government's opposition, including rumors of corruption

investigations that the then-Prime Minister was engaged.

The first person to be charged under the law that was enacted under Malaysian

court was a Danish citizen for inexact criticism on the social media of the policing

system. After uploading a YouTube video accusing police for 50 minutes to answer

distress calls following a shooting on 21 April of the Palestinian professor, Salah

Salem Saleh Sulaiman, 46, was charged with spreading false news. Police said the

shooting in the capital, Kuala Lumpur, took them eight minutes to respond.

Sulaiman's accusation said he had "edited fake news through a video on YouTube of
ill intent.

The Anti-Fake News Act of Malaysia 2018, which was initiated in April 2018,

has been widely criticized. Commentators and rights groups found the Act to be

ambiguous and containing an overly broad concept of fake news, and accused the

then-government of trying to stifle administration criticism (LEONG, T. 2020) .

Following elections in May 2018, the new government tried to amend the Act but in

September 2018 the bill was rejected in Parliament's upper house. (Al Jazeera And

News Agencies, 2020) In the second effort after the ratification of the Parliament,

Malaysia repealed the Anti-Fake News Act, a statute that criminalizes "fake news."

Dewan Negara had finally endorsed the repeal, according to Bernama Radio on

Thursday Dec 19, the elimination of the Anti-Fake News Act. This was Pakatan

Harapan's second attempt, just before the fourteenth general election in May of last

year, to repeal the infamous Barisan Nasional Act.

 My Opinion on AFNA, 2018

In my opinion, the AFNA, 2018 has the potential ability to jail, bankrupt or bring

journalists and reporters and media companies out of business for publishing poorly

defined disinformation, there is considerable room for violence, the worst case

scenario of which would be overt government censorship, impairing human rights and

aggravating the lives of the people. However, there is also a possibility of a chilling

effect even if the reports are not fully controlled, where the discretion of the media to

respect the rules ensures that legitimate public interest events are left unpublished

because of the fear of the potential consequences. Such laws would discourage media

from reporting the facts, if it were, for example, a report about a scandal.
 I consider AFNA to be obsolete. It gives credence to some lawmakers ' arguments

that the previous government has "used Parliament" to make laws for political gains

in enforcing the "reality," but it does not protect the people. What the previous

government was meant to have done was to improve existing laws. Additional

needless legislation will only result in additional jobs for the judiciary and police, and

higher costs (for the government).

Recently, the fake news act is still being implemented on people who conduct and

spread lies in any matter relevant to corona-virus on the internet will be prosecuted

and punished. General Counsel Tan Sri Tommy Thomas claimed that he took a

National Interest Decision (Babulal. V, 2020) . "At some moment of history no

equality is perfect in any society. No permission to spread lies is given under Section

3(3) of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 with legally defined

protections of freedom of expression or the fundamental right not to censor internet.

 Conclusion

The right approach to counter the dissemination of false news would be to

educate people to check whatever content they are reading or receiving, and not limit

the information they receive. People are introduced on all sides of the story,

constantly and what's even more important now is learning how to guard against fake

news and finding the right ways to access credible information (Buchanan, K, 2019) .

Our government maintains an online data collection database and software to scan for

details and apply it to verify the accuracy of it. Agencies also use social media to

correct misleading government-related information. Judicial information, including

legislation, law, rules and other legislative information, as well as court decisions, is

also available by government web portals.

References:

 Bernama (2018). 91 cases of spreading “fake news” recorded last year. [online]

Free Malaysia Today. Available at:

https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2018/03/13/91-cases-of-

spreading-fake-news-recorded-last-year/.

 Buchanan, K. (2019). Initiatives to Counter Fake News. [online] www.loc.gov.

Available at: https://www.loc.gov/law/help/fake-news/malaysia.php.

 UNESCO (2019) Handbook for Journalism Education and Training UNESCO

Series on Journalism Education. [online] Available at:

https://en.unesco.org/sites/default/files/journalism_fake_news_disinformation_pri

nt_friendly_0.pdf.

 Al Jazeera And News Agencies (2020). Malaysia parliament scraps law

criminalising fake news. [online] Aljazeera.com. Available at:

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/10/malaysia-parliament-scraps-law-

criminalising-fake-news-191010024414267.html.

 LEONG, T. (2020). Malaysia looks to repeal anti-fake news law again. [online]

The Straits Times. Available at: https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-

asia/malaysia-looks-to-repeal-anti-fake-news-law-again.
 Babulal, V. (2020). Those who spread fake news related to 2019-nCoV will face

the law. [online] NST Online. Available at:

https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2020/02/562775/those-who-spread-fake-

news-related-2019-ncov-will-face-law.
Bibliography:

 The Star Online (2019). Finally, Dewan Negara approves repeal of Anti-Fake

News Act. [online] The Star Online. Available at:

https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2019/12/19/finally-dewan-negara-

approves-repeal-of-anti-fake-news-act.

 The Daily Beast. (2018). First Person Convicted Under Malaysia’s ‘Fake News

Law.’ [online] Available at: https://www.thedailybeast.com/first-person-

convicted-under-malaysias-fake-news-law.

 www.thestar.com.my. (n.d.). Fake news still a crime in Malaysia | The Star

Online. [online] Available at:

https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2018/09/23/fake-news-still-a-crime-in-

malaysia-in-this-transition-period-where-rules-are-constantly-being-negot/.

 www.thestar.com.my. (n.d.). 12 detained so far over coronavirus fake news | The

Star Online. [online] Available at:

https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2020/02/05/12-detained-so-far-by-

mcmc-over-coronavirus-fake-news.

 Manzi, D. (n.d.). Fordham Law Review Managing the Misinformation

 Marketplace: The First Amendment and the Fight Against Fake News

Recommended Citation. [online] Available at:

https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5613&context=flr.

 Richter, A. (n.d.). FAKE NEWS AND FREEDOM OF THE MEDIA. [online]

Available at: https://www.swlaw.edu/sites/default/files/2019-04/Fake%20News

%20and%20Freedom%20of%20the%20Media%20-%20Richter.pdf.