Govt to repeal Anti-Fake News Act when 14th Parliament session begins

KUALA LUMPUR: The Pakatan Harapan (PH) government will move to repeal the Anti-Fake News Act when the 14th Parliament session begins on June 25.
Communications and Multimedia Minister Gobind Singh Deo said his ministry is committed and is working towards repealing the act which was gazetted in Feb even though there's a short period of time between now and June 25.
"The repeal of the Anti-Fake News Act remains one of the promises of the Pakatan Harapan government and we are totally committed to do so," he told reporters after visiting the headquarters of national news agency Bernama here today.
However, Gobind acknowledged the challenges that lies ahead.
"We have to look into the cases involving the Anti-Fake News Act. Since we are moving towards repealing it, we must look into the cases that have been charged so far and also the cases that are being investigated under the act. We must see what will happen to the investigation, or if can we use existing laws to investigate fake news related cases," he said.
Among other things that will be reviewed include several laws related to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) which relates to complaints and investigations into several reported cases.
Asked if some laws were redundant, he said the ministry would streamline laws that were redundant and overlapping since the Federal Constitution also mentioned freedom of speech and expression.
"Of course, there is no absolute freedom since there is a boundary in the law as stated in the Constitution itself. We need to look at how the laws need to be updated as technology and media reporting is moving fast compared to 20 years ago. These areas are important.
These laws need to be revised, to be brought up to date, and there's a greater need for freedom of the press," he said.