Caretaker prime minister Najib Abdul Razak today accused opposition leaders of welcoming the advent of fake news which they could use as a tool of interference.
In his speech in front of hundreds of military personnel from all over the world, while launching the Putrajaya Forum in Kuala Lumpur today, Najib defended the anti-fake news law which was recently passed in Parliament.
"Doing our utmost to protect Malaysians also means protecting them from the scourge of fake news which is why we recently passed an act to combat this.
"This can certainly pose a security threat and we have seen many instances around the world when contrary to Zopfan (Asean concept of the Zone of Peace, Freedom and Neutrality) principles, fake news has been used as a tool of interference, which strangely some opposition leaders now say they welcome.
"As patriotic Malaysians, I can tell you that the members of my government do not," he said.
Najib further stressed that they will also not compromise the country's sovereignty by "allowing other countries or individuals to tell us what to do".
"The future of our country is for the Malaysian people to decide and they should do so on the basis of facts, not the fake news of lies, propaganda, false promises and illusions.”
Najib noted how the people will soon be making "that choice".
"So let me tell you that the Barisan Nasional will continue to preserve the liberty and safety enjoyed by Malaysians while increasing our efforts to manage and contain all present and future threats," he said.
Some of the measures include increasing control posts and monitoring systems along the country's borders to prevent smuggling and human trafficking, as well as terrorist threats, and enhancing weapons capability of security forces stationed in the Eastern Sabah Security Zone.
The Putrajaya Forum is an international forum on defence and security, held biennially. Participants comprise policymakers, defence and security agencies, think tanks, as well as academicians.
The Anti-Fake News Act has been gazetted as law. The bill was passed in Parliament on April 2 and sent to the Senate for deliberation, several days before the Dewan Rakyat ended its last day of the 13th session.
Press freedom groups in Malaysia, as well as global watchdogs, had decried the bill as Putrajaya's move to crack down on freedom of the press and freedom of speech. - Mkini
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