News portal files review to declare Anti-Fake News Act unconstitutional (Updated)

KUALA LUMPUR: A news portal has today filed a judicial review application on the recently gazetted Anti-Fake News Act 2018, declaring that it violates the Federal Constitution.
Malaysiakini, through its company MKINI Dotcom Sdn Bhd, has named the government and the Home Ministry as respondents in the case.
In its application, it said the Anti-Fake News Act violates Article 5(1) and Article 10(1), read together with Article 8(1), and thus it is "unconstitutional, invalid and should be null and void".
Article 5(1) provides for the liberty of a person, Article 10(1) provides for the freedom of speech, assembly and association, while Article 8(1) provides for equality.
It seeks a command (mandamus) to direct the Home Ministry to revoke the gazetted law that came into effect on April 11.
It is seeks any further order, which the court deems fit and reasonable according to the facts of the case.
The application was filed on the grounds that the government has acted "contrary to law, unconstitutionally, unreasonably and irrationally" when it defined "fake news" as "any news, information, data and reports, which is or are wholly or partly false, whether in the form of features, visuals or audio recordings or in any other form capable of suggesting words or ideas."
MKINI Dotcom chief executive officer and director, J. Premesh Chandran, in his affidavit, said the respondents' action in bringing the law into force is unreasonable and an abuse of power because the said law in itself is unconstitutional.
"The Act inter alia penalise any person that maliciously creates, offers, publishes, prints, distributes, circulates or disseminates fake news," he said.
He also said the Anti-Fake News Act is not intelligible, clear and predictable, instead it is vague and arbitrary.
"The impact of the Act is to remove the defence of the reportage which will be available to the Applicant as well as placing insurmountable burden on the Applicant to ensure that each and every item which is published by way of reportage or opinion is true in every sense.
"This essentially renders the Applicant's right to freedom of speech and expression guaranteed under Article 10(1)(a) illusory," Premesh said.
MKINI Dotcom owns and operates Malaysiakini news portal via www.malaysiakini.com and online video site Kinitv.com, since Nov 20, 1999.