Archive for February 4th, 2018
Replace the Azalina Committee on Fake News with a bipartisan committee on fake news to draft laws and mechanism to tackle fake news without giving more powers to authorities to harass and persecute dissent which is no different from “using democracy to destroy democracy”
The statement by Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister, Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi that the creators and propagators of fake news will be punished for the wrongdoings is a new fable in the stable of UMNO/Barisan Nasional political propaganda with no credibility whatsoever.
This is why human rights groups and NGOs in Malaysia fear that free speech would be curtailed by the proposed legislation to curb fake news.
What is the answer of the Azalina Committee on Fake News to consider legislation and mechanism to tackle fake news to the human rights concerns by human rights organisations like Suara Rakyat Malaysia, Article 19 and Lawyers for Liberty? Read the rest of this entry »
Malaysians must beware not only of fake news but also of fake elections
I welcome the late-night announcement last night by the Election Commission Chairman, Tan Sri Mohd Hashim Abdullah that the Election Commission will invite international election observers and appoint local NGO representatives as observers for the 14th General Election which will be held in a hundred days.
Several UMNO Cabinet Ministers opposing international observers to the 14 General Election, in the wake of the boast by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak that there would be no “cheating” in the general election, were clearly shooting UMNO/BN in the foot – made worse by their belated discovery that Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad had agreed to Commonwealth observers to the 1990 General Election. Read the rest of this entry »
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