Taking a page from Donald Trump, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has tabled a bill in parliament on Monday outlawing “fake news”, a term popularized by the U.S. president. Under the Anti-Fake News 2018 bill, anyone who publishes so-called fake news could face fines of up to RM500,000 (US$128,550; £90,310), up to 10 years in jail, or both.
But there’s a huge difference. Unlike Trump who used the term fake news to describe mainstream media reports and organizations critical of him, Najib enjoys 100% support from government-controlled mainstream news media. What Mr. Najib can’t control, however, is the alternate news media such as blogs and social media, including Facebook and Twitter.
As a matter of fact, almost 100% international news media are critical of the Malaysian leader. The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, Washington Post, The New York Times, CNBC, MSNBC, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Al-Jazeera and even Indonesian Tempo have both accused and mocked PM Najib Razak as the crook behind 1MDB scandal.
American news magazine Newsweek had actually published an article, written by former World Bank President Paul Wolfowitze, calling Mr. Najib Razak “a crook”. The Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC had openly called Najib “a thief.” The Economist recently ran an article titled – “Stop, thief! Malaysia’s PM is about to steal an election.”
That’s right – the so-called Anti-Fake News 2018 bill has nothing to do with fake news but everything to do with the coming 14th general election, which will have to happen on or before 24 August 2018. The only reason Mr. Najib is bulldozing this bill to become law is to muzzle critical news – NOT fake news – of his corruption, money laundering and gerrymandering.
To believe that Najib Razak has pure intention of fighting fake news is like believing Kim Jong-un genuinely wants to get rid of nuclear weapons. And if you believe Najib is as clean as a whistle, then you should believe Hillary Clinton is still a virgin. Empowered with Anti-Fake News 2018 Law, Prime Minister Najib Razak will be as powerful as Dictator Kim Jong-un.
Malaysia will become the next North Korea where nobody dares to question the Malaysian leader. Any news critical of Mr. Najib will be flagged as fake news and the offenders would be made poorer by RM500,000 and thrown into prison for up to 10 years, or both. Like North Korea, only propaganda that worships and praises the “Great Leader Najib Razak” is allowed.
Najib government’s definition of fake news is “news, information, data and reports which is or are wholly or partly false” and included features, visuals and audio recordings. The law, which covers digital publications and social media, would apply to offenders outside Malaysia, including foreigners, if Malaysia or a Malaysian citizen were affected.
What this means is foreigners such as American television host Rachel Anne Maddow would be subject to Najib’s authoritarian Anti-Fake News Law, if a single Malaysian citizen lodges a report that the American spreads fake news about Supreme Leader Najib Razak. It would be interesting to see how Malaysia plans to drag Americans onto Malaysian soil to be prosecuted.
As revealed by the U.S. Department of Justice, Najib Razak – widely believed as the Malaysian Official 1 (MO1) – has been linked to siphoning and laundering money using the U.S. financial systems. The 1MDB scandal represents the largest action brought under the U.S. Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative, involving stolen money of more than US$4.5 billion.
Yet, the 1MDB scandal, first exposed by foreign news media and news blogs in 2015, refuses to die down. Najib has denied any involvement in the scandal despite caught with his hand in the cookie jar – a whopping US$681 million in his private banking accounts. Instead, he has claimed that the money was donations from Saudi royal family, a claim that could not be substantiated.
The United States and several other countries are still investigating allegations of cross-border embezzlement and money laundering at 1MDB, which was set up and previously led by Mr. Najib himself. Early this month, a joint-operation between U.S. authorities and Indonesia police successfully seized “The Equanimity”, a US$250 million yacht belonging to Jho Low, Najib’s business partner.
Najib’s wife, Rosmah Mansor, was also exposed to have had purchased a 22-carat pink diamond necklace – worth a stunning US$27.3 million – using money siphoned from 1MDB. According to U.S.-DOJ investigations, Jho Low had arranged for jewellery designer Lorraine Schwartz (also known as “Jewish Queen of Oscar Bling”) for the pink diamond on June 2, 2013.
Even now, as Najib and his rubber-stamp Lower House of Representatives (Dewan Rakyat) and Upper House of Senate (Dewan Negara) are pushing the bill to become law before dissolving the parliament for a nationwide election, rumoured to be as early as end of this week, not a single international news media believe the law is meant to fight fake news.
Human rights group Amnesty International group director for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, James Gomez, said – “The vague and broad definition of ‘fake news’, combined with severe punishments and arbitrary arrest powers for police, shows that this is nothing but a blatant attempt to shield the government from peaceful criticism.”
Aside from crackdown on the right to freedom of speech and expression, there’s another reason why people are furious with the anti-fake news law. Mr. Najib himself is the biggest sponsor of fake news. For as long as one can remember, government-controlled news media have been publishing fake news against opposition parties – spreading racial sentiments and hate speech.
Recently, government top-paid blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin spread fake news about Robert Kuok, Malaysian richest man, funding opposition parties. Mr. Najib joined the party, accusing the Malaysian iconic billionaire of being ungrateful for supporting the opposition, only to make a U-turn after Kuok, a respected figure even by China leaders, threatened lawsuits on Malaysia-Today portal.
Other Articles That May Interest You …
- Robert Kuok Proves He’s Too Powerful For Najib & Fake News Blogger RPK
- Najib’s Dirty Deal With Trump Backfires – Confiscation Of Jho Low’s $250 Million Yacht Is Just The Beginning
- Under Pressure, Trump Granted Najib A “Pariah Visit Status” Despite $20 Billion Investment Bribes
- Meeting World’s Biggest Crook Najib – Trump Should Stop Trying To Prove He’s The U.S. Biggest Moron
- This Chart Shows How US-DOJ Links Auntie Rosie To A $27-Million Pink Diamond
- Swiss A.G. – Najib’s 1MDB Scammed At Least $800 Million Using “Ponzi Scheme”
- WSJ’s Last Bombshell For The Year – Najib’s $700 Million Came From 1MDB
- Here’re 14 Crazy Facts How Huge (1MDB) RM42 Billion Debt Is
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March 27th, 2018 by financetwitter
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