Tonton Dfm2u
It may be one of the ironies of the new Malaysia that some opponents of the fake news law are shouting “fake news” loudly every time a story proves to be true, or is a typo, i.e. an error, or a rehash of the political gossip that dominates the national psyche.
Some politicians in power today, like those who ruled before May 9, 2018, seem to have no idea what this phrase means and use it liberally to criticize their critics. “Fake news” is a phrase Donald Trump himself used against the media outlets that criticized him in the 2016 US presidential election. During his first press conference after winning the presidency, he accused a CNN reporter of spreading “fake news”. The imitation has gone almost viral. Suddenly, fake news has become the biggest threat, with politicians from Australia and Canada accusing their associates and the media of spreading it. Collins Dictionary even named “fake news” the word of the year.
In Malaysia, there’s no prize for guessing who’s using it more these days. Many other Trump imitators lurk behind the benches of the Dewan Rakyat, on both sides of the divide.
The difference is that perhaps Trump, despite his famously hateful rhetoric, has managed to convince his supporters that his election promises are not fake news, even if the positive changes are not. him. Since coming to power, he has been enjoying the benefits of his country’s economic growth, despite the worst recession in US history in the past decade.
Can we say the same about the countless policies that the current administration has implemented to bring it to power? Perhaps it is time for the press to turn its back on this weaponized phrase and attack our politicians.
Our politicians need to learn to understand what fake news is. This is a deliberate message, and has nothing to do with any factual errors in the complaint.
