Is The Anti-Fake News Act Back From The Grave?

Happy Deepavali to all our Hindu readers and your families! 

It’s been a tough year but in the spirit of the season, let us be the light to bring joy, unity, kindness and laughter to those around us and leave the back-biting, egg-throwing and finger-pointing to the politicos, cybertroopers and other ignoramuses.

And now, on to today’s hot topic! We should’ve seen this coming. The short long arm of the law under the new-old government of PM Muhyiddin Yassin has been criticised for coming down hard on dissent (allegedly! allegedly!).

In this week’s Kita Semua Penghasut piece, Fahmi takes a poke at the much-despised Anti-Fake News Act. The controversial law (click on the link and see if you recognise the byline ), once thought relegated to the dustbin of history, could be making a comeback, if our law minister has his way. 

Make no mistake, regardless of how the law was couched in its last incarnation, it was nothing but bad news, designed to stifle political opposition and media criticism. And if it comes back, it will quite likely pick up where the last one left off and suck the life out of our democracy. 

You’ve been warned.