Lau sorry for 'fake news' faux pas, backs law against it

Gerakan president Dominic Lau has apologised for sharing a fake news article during his policy speech at his party's annual delegates' meeting today.

The fake news article cited DAP central committee member Lim Kit Siang as purportedly stating: "I never said Najib (Abdul Razak) was corrupt".

Lau told reporters at the party headquarters in Kuala Lumpur he only found out it was fake after the former premier complained about it on Facebook.

"I apologise for the mistake that I made," he said.

Lau added that his faux pas showed why a law to curb fake news was necessary.

"As politicians, sometimes we cannot differentiate what's fake news or real news.

"I think (this example justifies) the need to pass an anti-fake news law so we will be more careful in the future. Sometimes we make mistakes," he said.

The offending material which Lau showed was an edited version of a 2019 article by Sin Chew Daily with the title: "I never said Dr Mahathir Mohamad was corrupt".

Lau said he received the fake version of the article through WhatsApp.

"I read Sin Chew every day. So it looked very familiar. It didn't cross my mind that it was fake.

"Now that we know it's fake, I apologise," he said.

Lau added that he will cooperate if there was a police report on the matter.

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