Prominent banker Nazir Abdul Razak has called for the Anti-Fake News Bill tabled in Parliament to be deferred.

In an Instagram post yesterday evening, the brother of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak said the bill should be thoroughly debated before being implemented.

"As much as I abhor fake news, the Anti-Fake News Bill should be deferred. It must be comprehensively drafted and debated. It mustn't be rushed.

"This is about basic rights of individual expression, and instilling fear of such draconian punishment based on ambiguous definitions will retard our society," Nazir wrote.

The text accompanied a snapshot of two newspaper reports on the said bill.

As of 11.30 last night, the post had garnered 1,795 likes and 86 comments.

While some of his Instagram followers supported Nazir's call, there were those who told him to relay the message straight to his brother Najib, instead of taking to social media.

This is not the first time Nazir has written about national issues on his Instagram account. He had previously expressed concerns about the 1MDB, Felda investments and the suspension of The Edge, among others.

The debate on the Anti-Fake News Bill will continue in Parliament on Monday.