Hisham gives out ‘false news’ to the press

Media control in the spotlight

Yet again the wretched issue of newspaper licensing, that noose around all publishers’ necks, has become a political tool as shown by the current actions against Suara Keadilan and Harakah, and the actions earlier this year against The Star and China Press.

Suara Keadilan and Harakah are now in a state of limbo, with the home ministry yet to decide on their publishing permit. PKR’s Tian Chua said Suara Keadilan would continue publishing. Pas has said the same about Harakah. The Star and China Press had their licences placed at risk over stories that ruling politicians chose to find fault with.

Keen observers will note that the four newspapers which faced KDN action are non-Umno-owned newspapers, and therefore easy prey to the twists and turns of Umno’s factional politics and the ups and downs of the main theme of Ketuanan Melayu Umno hegemony.

But the home minister was quoted by Bernama on Thursday thusly: “I want to say here that there is no difference between Suara Keadilan and the other newspapers that we have acted upon previously including the mainstream media such as The Star, Nanyang [sic] and now Suara Perkasa”.

Now wait a minute.

• Did Nanyang get into trouble this year? It was China Press that was hauled up. It is a Nanyang subsidiary and a sister paper, but it was not Nanyang’s licence at risk.
• Suspiciously, but not strangely, the home minister has now embraced into the “mainstream” the instantly-established and relatively minor Suara Perkasa, the organ of the Ibrahim Ali-led Perkasa movement.
• No, it’s not a “mainstream” newspaper. It’s a newspaper of a bunch of warped racists. That’s definitely not “mainstream” — except maybe to Hishammuddin.

Now, as those two facts in Bernama’s report are not “true facts” shouldn’t a police report be made against the home minister for stating “false news”? The home ministry should take action against the minister, on the same basis as the actions against the newspapers.

“False news” was the KDN accusation against Suara Keadilan for reporting on Felda’s state of solvency, or insolvency, and against China Press over the purported resignation of the Inspector-General of Police, the one supposed to be leaving at the end of his contract according to the Home Minister himself. Or the one supposed to be staying according to the Malay Mail last month, for which they also faced KDN and police action over “false news”. (When I posed the question Who to believe, the IGP or the Mail? the other day, one commenter said: Neither.)

So how about this one, then?

Should there be a police report against MSN.com (Bill Gates, prop.) for publishing “false news”? Don’t forget the 38,000 other mentions on Google. Yesterday, Maya clarified, so they said.

Doesn’t that show the absurdity of making “false news” an offence?

It’s a favourite ploy of tyrants everywhere. And we’re in good company (actually, in b-a-a-d company) in this “false news” business.

1. Zimbabwe is another place where “false news” is also a crime.
2. Sudan tries editor over “false news”. Five cases in three months. “Three of them are by the state security, one by police and one by the army,” he said. It’s an opposition newspaper. Surprised?
3. Gambia: Three Jailed For Spreading False News Against President.
4. Burma has a law on “false news”
5. Pakistan’s Supreme Court threatens Information Minister over “false news”.
6. China is perpetually at war on “false news”, in 2005 and then in 2009 China cracks down on false news reports. In fact the Chinese communists sound just like Malaysian ruling politicians. Or is it that Malaysian ruling politicians sound just like Chinese communists?

The real news: false-news laws are bad

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In 2004, Uganda’s Supreme Court struck down a “false news” law. It ruled that journalists can no longer be charged with the offence of publishing false news under Section 50 of the Penal Code. Chief Justice Joseph Mulenga said the provision, dating from colonial times, was incompatible with Uganda’s Constitution and served no meaningful purpose. He said it was a vaguely formulated offence, and open to misinterpretation and abuse on political grounds.

”

The ruling effectively quashes charges launched in 2002 against three journalists from the independent newspaper “The Monitor.”

ARTICLE 19, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF).

Against that, we should be ashamed of ourselves in how the political leadership continues to project Malaysia as a shining example of moderation and democracy.

If you want false news, go here »

And these guys make a song and dance about it all:

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