Articles for tag: Fake News, Malaysia, NetzDG

The rebirth of Malaysia’s fake news law – and what the NetzDG has to do with it

On 11 March 2021, the Government of Malaysia issued the Emergency (Essential Powers) (No. 2) Ordinance 2021. It criminalizes the dissemination of fake news related to COVID-19 and is an aggravated reincarnation of the country’s repealed Anti-Fake News Act of 2018. More importantly, from a German perspective, it continues the trend of anti-fake news legislation that is mistakenly associated with the German Network Enforcement Act, which has become the involuntary godmother of several such laws around the world, lending legitimacy to the global war on fake news.

13. April 2021

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COVID-19: Malaysia’s Fragile Constitutional Democracy

The COVID-19 pandemic occasioned a de facto worldwide state of exception. In Malaysia, the beginning of the pandemic would coincide with political turmoil. In 2018, a democratic reformist government surprisingly rose to power after unexpectedly winning the general election. The victory ended six decades of ethnocratic and authoritarian rule under the United Malay National Organization (“UMNO”), a Malay nationalist party committed to a political doctrine of ethnic “Malay Dominance.” However, in March 2020, just as the WHO declared a global pandemic, a series of political machinations brought down the reformist government.

2. März 2021