This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on April 10, 2019

PUTRAJAYA: Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has reiterated the federal government’s commitment to repeal the Anti-Fake News Act, although Singapore has moved to introduce a similar law in the country.

While Dr Mahathir acknowledged that the potential perils of social media can be damaging, he asserted that a promise was made to do away with the anti-fake news law to the people that voted Pakatan Harapan into power.

“For us that means that we have to learn how to handle such fake news”, he said a joint press conference with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong after the conclusion the 9th Malaysia-Singapore Leaders’ Retreat here yesterday.

"We do not want any government, this one and succeeding ones, to make use of the law for the government itself to create fake news in order to sustain themselves. Of course it will be difficult to handle but we believe that we can accept the challenges and we can handle them,” Dr Mahathir added.

In August last year, the Dewan Rakyat passed the Anti-Fake News (Repeal) Bill 2018 but it was rejected by the Dewan Negara the following month.

 Lee said the issue of deliberate false statements, or fake news, is a serious problem which confronts many countries.

He said countries like France, Germany, and Australia have enacted similar laws which he said is “very draconian”.