KUALA LUMPUR, March 26 — Putrajaya’s proposed law against fake news will criminalise and even kill satire, lawyers have cautioned.

Constitutional lawyer Lim Wei Jiet said that publishers of satire and artists would be affected by the planned Anti-Fake News Bill 2018, which was tabled in Parliament today.

"This would surely kill satirical news — which are an important element in socio-political dialogue. Think about cartoonists, The Tapir Times, The Onion etc.

"Artists and publishers use their creative license day in and day out — often via hyperbole and exaggeration — and I am afraid we would all err on the side of caution and be stultified to nothing,” he told Malay Mail when contacted.

Lim pointed out the potential for the proposed law’s abuse if the government is the one that decides what is fake news, highlighting the "troubling question” of whether the new Section 4 offence of "knowingly” creating and circulating fake news would be based on the accused’s own subjective reading of sources, or according to government-vetted sources.

"There is uncertainty & arbitrariness in the legislation. This is against established principles that criminal legislation must always be clear because we are dealing with the liberty of a subject here.

"If indeed any information which deviates from government sources is deemed "fake news”, then it would send a chilling effect on our democratic freedoms & be a precursor to an Orwellian society,” he said, adding that the proposed law is allegedly a "free pass” for the governing party of the day to "control our thoughts, minds and ultimately who we vote for”.

Lawyer Surendra Ananth, who co-chairs the Bar Council’s constitutional law committee, said the proposed law leaves huge gaps for abuse as fake news is "not defined” and the Section 4 offence of creating, publishing and distribution of fake news "covers matters that are not news as well”.

"Further, it allows the government to be the arbiter of what amounts to the "truth”. This a gross fetter on free speech. Imagine this, comedy and political satire can be criminalised,” he told Malay Mail, later pointing out that the requirement for knowledge that something is fake would not exclude political satire from being criminalised.

Satire is the use of elements such as humour, irony and exaggeration to criticise or comment on issues such as politics and other typical issues.