Govt defends fake news law, and other news you may have missed

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KINI ROUNDUP | Key headlines you may have missed yesterday, in brief.

1. The government defended invoking its emergency powers to introduce an anti-fake news law. Communications and Multimedia Minister Saifuddin Abdullah said the law is "very specific" for dealing with misinformation regarding Covid-19 and the emergency.

However, de facto law minister Takiyuddin Hassan said such misinformation would include the claim that the state of emergency was declared to maintain Perikatan Nasional’s grip on power.

2. The rebuttal comes fast and furious as lawyers, politicians, activists, and the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) voice concerns over the fake news ordinance, especially since what constitutes ‘fake news’ is poorly defined.

3. An online campaign has been launched to gather signatures to petition the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong to end the emergency. 

Meanwhile, Takiyuddin said all emergency laws, including the ordinance against fake news, would be repealed after the emergency is lifted and parliament reconvenes.

4. Pekan MP Najib Abdul Razak said police’s lack of discretion on issuing the RM10,000 fine for Covid-19 SOP violations underscores why it is important to debate government orders in Parliament. 

Police have issued 330 such fines, which can be appealed through district health offices.

5. Gerakan president Dominic Lau said the party decided to join the ruling Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition after finding it difficult to make an impact as a political third force. 

Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin will officiate its annual general meeting today.

6. Prasarana’s Muhammad Nizam Alias said the company’s chairperson Tajuddin Abdul Rahman should recuse himself from the board’s deliberations on his case, since Tajuddin was the one who accused him of misconduct and insubordination.

7. PKR Youth vice-chief Syed Badli Shah Syed Osman said Pakatan Harapan should be open to cooperation with anyone, including Umno. 

Meanwhile, Umno veteran Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah branded PAS as a “political prostitute” that must be defeated in the next election.

8. Coordinating Minister for the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme Khairy Jamaluddin said he has urged the police not to punish whistleblowers who exposed shortcomings in the ongoing vaccination exercise.

9. Malaysia’s Covid-19 cases continue to fall, but half of the clusters reported yesterday are community clusters. 

Meanwhile, Terengganu health director Dr Nor Azimi Yunus said the Bukit Bayas Cluster reported on Monday even infected “jogging and golfing friends” and underscores the disease’s high infectivity.

10. Pfizer and BioNTech said they have real-world data showing their Covid-19 vaccine is highly effective against both symptomatic and asymptomatic infections. 

As of Thursday, 249,909 people in Malaysia have taken the first dose of the vaccine, and community pharmacists are the latest group to be eligible for the first phase of the national immunisation programme.