LETTER | The anti-fake news law is currently being debated and it is expected to be passed anytime soon, just in time for the coming 14th general election.

This bill is expected to be used extensively to punish anyone that spreads news that is defined as “fake” by the BN government in another method to silence their detractors.

Malaysia’s most unpopular prime minister, Najib Abdul Razak, seems to be taking a page out of the playbook of his close friend, US President Donald Trump, by labelling any news that doesn’t favour his government as “fake news.”

The only difference between these two leaders is that Najib is taking it a step further by regulating all news through legislation. Hence the destruction of the already limited media freedom.

Once this bill is passed, will the entire cabinet be guilty of “fake news,” since ministers are commonly known to contradict each other in the media, especially when it comes to government scandals such as Felda, Tabung Haji and 1MDB?

Nevertheless, it is obvious that this bill will be used to protect BN and punish its detractors. This form of legislation will also lead to total control and media filtering, such as implemented in China by the Communist Party.

This bill shouldn’t even have been suggested in the first place. As much as we abhor fake or irresponsible messages being spread via various channels, the “government knows best” mentality has to stop.

In fact, this was also announced by Najib prior to GE13. Now he plans to make Malaysia one of the most authoritarian countries in the world.

The government should instead encourage improvement in education, by improving the intelligence and emotional quotient of the population, alongside civic education. This way, the populace will be armed and ready to distinguish fact from fake and irresponsible news.

Since Najib is so “confident” in BN’s chances in the coming election, based on his bragging on the “success” of his various programmes, why does he need to legislate laws such as this and also bulldoze through the redelineation exercise?

With the kind of confidence being shown by BN, this election should be a walk in the park for them.

DAP Youth rejects irresponsible legislation such as this. We don’t need a “big brother” to watch over us. What we need is responsible leadership.

MUHAMMAD SHAKIR AMEER MOHIDEEN is DAP Youth assistant national publicity secretary and a councillor for Shah Alam city council.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.