All must unite to combat online falsehoods

Last month, the Dewan Rakyat passed the bill to abolish the Anti-Fake News Act 2018. This came after the bill was rejected by the Dewan Negara last year, which meant that the Act was still in force. With the Dewan Rakyat’s second attempt at repealing the Act, the Anti-Fake News Act will finally be removed from our statute books.

According to the Act, ‘fake news’ is any news, information, data and reports which are wholly or partly false, in any form which is capable of suggesting words or ideas. From the definition, ‘fake news’ includes information that is not confined to ‘news’ alone.

When the Anti-Fake News Act was passed, many have commented that it would create a culture of fear; a chilling effect on society. The wide definition given to ‘fake news’ and the imprecise nature of some of the provisions could lead to selective and arbitrary implementation and abuse.

Fortunately, a few months after the Act was passed, we had the change of government. Although the Act was in force until last month, the authorities and the Public Prosecutor kept the Act in abeyance, in line with the policy of the current administration.

Abolishing the Act is a welcome move. Indeed, this law does not strike the proper balance between freedom of speech and expression, with the very real need for society to deal with ‘fake news’, or online falsehoods.

We cannot ignore the threat of online falsehoods. Some have even argued that online falsehoods present the greatest threat to a modern democracy. Indeed, there have been many instances whereby actual harm has been occasioned by the spread of fake news and disinformation.

This is even more so when such falsehoods are being spread by certain quarters for their political or personal interests. In the month of August, for example, there were claims that there is a concentrated campaign by certain ethnic communities to defile and disrespect the Jalur Gemilang. Old photos, doctored images and out of context photos were mixed with genuine mistakes to give the impression of this campaign.

Joining in was Umno secretary-general, Annuar Musa, who uploaded an image of a person burning the flag, when in reality the incident happened in 2013 in Manila, done by a Filipino.

All these feed into the rising communal tensions within the country. If unaddressed, falsehoods and disinformation can destroy the very fabric of our multiracial society.

Yes, the Anti-Fake News Act is no more. Good riddance. But we as a society must still take heed of the danger of online falsehoods and disinformation.

The easy answer would be to enact laws. But laws should not be the solution to all of our social ills and issues. The law should be the last resort for the extremes which society cannot handle.

So, how do we deal with the threat of online falsehoods and disinformation without resorting to legislation? The government cannot do it alone. In fact, I would argue that we all have the responsibility to combat fake news.

As individuals, we must constantly remind one another to fact check and verify the source before we share a piece of information. This would mean calling out and correcting those who spread information in WhatsApp groups and social media channels.

Corporations, too, can play a role. They can initiate awareness and media literacy campaigns, for they too have been victims of online falsehoods as well.

The efforts to combat and ultimately eradicate online falsehoods can only be successful if all of us play our roles in order to ensure that this threat does not ultimately result in the breakdown of racial and religious ties that we have built for so long.

Let us unite against online falsehoods and disinformation!

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SYAHREDZAN JOHAN is a civil liberties lawyer and political secretary to Iskandar Puteri MP Lim Kit Siang. - Mkini