Thefirst someone charged under Malaysia ’s Anti - Fake News Acthas been found guilty after posting a YouTube video in which he said police took almost an hour to respond to theshooting of a Palestinian lecturer — a title the police refute .
Salah Salem Saleh Sulaiman , 46 , posted a YouTube video claim Malaysian constabulary take 50 arcminute to respond to the distress call account the April killing of 34 - yr - old Fadi al - Batsh , an engineer and alleged fellow member of the competitive fundamentalistic group Hamas . But Malaysia ’s inspector general of police force , Mohamad Fuzi Harun , aver officersonly took eight minutesto respond . As a resolution , Sulaiman was convicted of spreading fake news .
Sulaiman plead hangdog and said that he brand the YouTube video in a “ minute of anger ” without malicious spirit . Sulaiman ’s charge reportedly stated that he , “ with ominous purpose , issue fake word through a video recording on YouTube . ”
“ I agreed I made a mistake … I seriously apologize to everybody in Malaysia , not just in the Malaysian police , ” Sulaiman , who reportedly had no legal internal representation in royal court , said , according to the Guardian .
Malaysia ’s Anti - Fake News Act is punishable by up to six years in jailhouse and a mulct of up to 500,000 ringgit ( about $ 123,000 ) . Sulaiman was break water 10,000 ringgit , which is a picayune over $ 2,500 . He reportedly could n’t pay the mulct and is spend a calendar month in gaol .
The airing of “ tidings , entropy , data and reports which is or are wholly or partly false ” is penal under Malaysia ’s fake news law . Both individual and online serve providers can face penalty for yield , publishing , or pass around misinformation . And it is n’t just enclose to individuals or publications in Malaysia — misinformation created outside the country is punishable by the practice of law if Malaysia or its citizen are charm .
Lawmakers against the bill have argued that the legal philosophy is a terror to barren speech communication , and critics believe it to be written in an intentionally vague way . “ This Federal Reserve note is a arm to shut the truth so that what is false can be uphold as honest , and what is true can be reverse as pretended , ” legislator Lim Guan Eng said , Variety report . “ This is something very dangerous for our nation . ”
Those opposed to the law also view it as a way of censoring ahead of Malaysia ’s general election . Prime Minister Najib Razak is grappling with the side effect from amassive corruption scandalafter billions of dollar bill go neglect from a government fund Najib ran . critic view the Anti - Fake News Act as a means for the country ’s government tosilence political discontentahead of the election .
While the proliferation of phony newsworthiness is a proven threat to sizeable political treatment , Malaysia ’s ill - defined and far - touch law is likely to inculcate fear in those looking to freely express themselves online . There ’s a of the essence pauperism to hold bad actors and technical school platforms more accountable for the spread of misinformation , but prison prison term for a factually incorrect YouTube video is distinctly not a viable answer .
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