Barisan Nasional federal ministers have been relentlessly pushing for a new law to curb fake news. Yet, the most powerful tool to counter the propagation of fake news is no other than to recover the credibility of the government and regain the trust of Malaysians. Fake news will only be efficacious when the public lost their trust towards the government.
In the recent frascas over Robert Kuok’s political donation to political parties, Barisan Nasional leaders can easily verify if such fabricated news is true or not. Yet, they chose to accept wholesale without investigating such baseless allegation from a non-credible source. They even used the fake news to instigate hatred among Malaysians.
Who is the biggest culprit behind this ugly episode? Clearly, it is Najib and his cohort. Who is spreading lies? Clearly it is Barisan Nasional. The Prime Minister and his Ministers, Salleh Said Keruak, Azalina Othman and many other BN leaders who have been so gung-ho about the fake news law should first reflect on themselves. They are the biggest culprits.
To stop fake news, leaders of the government must first gain the trust of the people. Today, the government is facing a trust deficit. The public generally turn to other sources of information because no one believes in the government anymore due to the constant lying and hate-mongering.
In order to restore credibility to the government, we need to reform the system.
Firstly, the government has to be competent, accountable and transparent.
Secondly, the government needs to uphold the freedom of speech, in order for honest discourse to be possible.
Finally, draconian and anti-democratic legislation such as the Printing Machine and Publishing Act 1984 must be abolished. Mind-control is an archaic tool of a totalitarian government in the past. By punishing people for speaking against the government even when what is said is true, the government is disincentivizing honesty.
But we all know clearly that BN being the biggest generator and purveyor of fake news in the country will never embark on such reforms. The only way for the government to recover its credibility is for a regime change. We need a credible government in order to restore the compass of truth in this country. To live in truth or to live in deception is our choice to make in the 14th general election.