COMMENT | Media council cannot stop spread of fake news

COMMENT | The 14th general election was held on May 9, 2018, allowing just 11 days for campaigning – officially. But the real campaign had started much earlier after news of the 1MDB scandal made headlines in local and international newspapers.

Politicians, especially those on the opposite side, used the scandal to discredit the then-prime minister Najib Abdul Razak and the BN.

Denial after denial of the contents of a report by the US Department of Justice did not help him as more “dirt” poured from international media organisations like the Wall Street Journal.

Against this backdrop, the Fake News Act was promulgated in October 2017 but it was only gazetted on April 11, 2018. However, it did not prevent more news of Najib’s involvement in 1MDB from emerging.