Task force set up to draft laws to fight fake news

PUTRAJAYA: A special committee has been formed by the Government to look into formulating laws to curb fake news that threaten political stability and public order, says Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said.

She said the committee would look into related laws and new provisions for the Cabinet’s consideration.

“The Government also hopes to introduce the new legislation to Parliament in the coming session,” she said in a statement yesterday.

Representatives from the police force, AttorneyGeneral’s Chambers, National Security Council, Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission, Communications and Multimedia Ministry and Legal Affairs Division attended the first meeting on the matter last week.

Azalina said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak had also agreed that the committee would include NGOs and MPs to ensure the Government’s efforts in tackling the issue would receive support from various parties and through consultations with stakeholders.

She said Malaysia was not the only country taking such measures.

The Government, she added, would look into existing provisions that could be used to curb and address threats that were not only published or broadcast, but also spread through online platforms.

Currently, there are several Acts, such as Section 8A of the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984, that deal with such issues.