Jeff Ooi, whose blog “Screenshots” came out tops in the Asia category of the Freedom Blogs Awards given by Reporters Without Borders in 2005, said fake news was a worldwide phenomenon catalysed by social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter.
Being a multicultural and multi-religious country, he warned, Malaysia was a “tinder box” of potential hot spots which could be ignited by fake news at any time.
“Fake news and rumour-mongering have the potential to create massive social unrest,” the former Jelutong MP told FMT, cautioning Malaysians not to believe everything being circulated on social media.
Ooi, who is also an IT consultant, said the algorithms behind social media platforms determine which posts are highlighted on-site. This means anyone who understands how these programmes work can manipulate stories to receive higher rankings and generate more clicks with readers.
“That’s where the sharing and ranking with the aim of distorting the truth can happen,” he said.
He added that many social media users were gullible and believed everything they read.
He urged the people to check the facts and to be more critical of any information received, especially if it was reported without a reliable source.
However, in a recent panel discussion on social media organised by the Jeffrey Cheah institute, he said he saw no need for extra legislation to counter the spread of fake news, saying Malaysia had enough laws governing news-related crimes.
“I think we have to go through all this as part of the growing pains of a democratic society, where we develop from being naive to being sophisticated.
“People actively using social media need to develop a strong sense of responsibility because whatever they say will be spread far and wide across the web.”
The Anti-Fake News Act was passed by the Dewan Rakyat on April 2 and came into effect on April 11, just before the May 9 polls which swept Pakatan Harapan to federal power.
Critics said the act, which aimed to combat misinformation and rumours, was unnecessary and muzzled press freedom. They also claimed it was bulldozed through Parliament.
On Aug 16, the Dewan Rakyat approved a motion to repeal the Anti-Fake News Act. However, the bill was rejected by the Dewan Negara less than a month later on Sept 12.
Under the act, those found guilty of spreading “wholly or partly false” news can be fined up to RM500,000, jailed up to six years or both.
The law applies to both Malaysians and foreigners, even if the offence occurs outside the country.
‘Democracy is messy’
Pauline Leong, a senior lecturer in media studies at Sunway University, agreed that there was no need for additional laws to curb fake news.
She added that the Anti-Fake News Act had not been properly debated before becoming law, saying it was rushed through with insufficient input.
Like Ooi, she said the presence of misinformation was a symptom of an intellectually developing society in a free democracy.
“Democracy is very messy,” she said during the panel discussion, recommending that further debate be held in Parliament as well as the public arena to ascertain the need for the Anti-Fake News Act and other similar laws.
She also noted that people could be emotional when it comes to social media, and often forwarded information without checking on its source.
She recommended teaching media literacy in schools as a long-term strategy to tackle the spread of fake news.
“If we teach the young how to determine fake news from real news, we will have a generation that is aware of the impact of what they do online.”
MCA vice-president Ti Lian Ker however said there was no need to repeal the Anti-Fake News Act.
“Just fine-tune it,” he said. “If there is a provision that might be abused, simply repeal that.”