Malaysia parliament repeals ‘fake news’ law News
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Malaysia parliament repeals ‘fake news’ law

Malaysia’s parliament [official website] on Thursday repealed a controversial law [JURIST report] that set fines for “fake news.”

The law was introduced in April by the administration of former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

The previous administration called snap elections in May [BBC report] shortly after passing the “fake news law” and was subsequently defeated. In the aftermath of the snap election, former prime minister Razak was barred from leaving the country and arrested [JURIST report] in July on charges related to the 1DMB scandal [BBC report], in which 3.5 billion dollars was siphoned off a public investment fund.

The former prime minister’s trial date [Reuters report] is now set for February 12.

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