*MALAYSIA *FAKE NEWS LAW*

THE MALAYSIAN government on Monday proposed a *Fake News Law* which would carry a maximum 10 year jail term, including for articles published abroad -

Sparking fears of a crackdown on dissent as election loom.

Malaysia is ranked 144th of 180 countries in *Reporters Without Borders* : World Press Freedom Index.

Governments in several countries, emboldened by US President Donald Trump's fulmination against  ''fake news'', are considering such legislation.

But rights group warn that authoritarian regimes are likely to use such laws to silence opposing voices.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has already been targeting critics in politics and the media who have attacked him over the allegations that huge sums were looted from sovereign wealth fund IMDB.

Najib and the Fund deny any wrongdoing.

The proposed law, introduced in Parliament Monday, fuelled fears the government is seeking to intensify a clampdown before a general election, which must be called by August but is widely expected sooner.

Opposition MP Charles Santiago said the bill was a ''powerful weapon for the government to silence dissent in the country.''

''It is timed for the elections and to silence discussions on IMDB,'' he told AFP.

The bill, which described fake news as a ''global concern'' includes a maximum 10 years in jail or fine up to 500,000 ringgit {$130,000} for anyone guilty of creating or disseminating what authorities deem to be fake news.

It said anyone - including foreigners - who break the law outside the country by publishing fake news can face punishment in Malaysia, as long as what is published concerns Malaysia or Malaysian news.

Fahmi Fadzil, spokesman for the opposition People's Justice Party, said it suggested that the government was seeking target foreign media, which have led the coverage of IMDB.

Phil Robertson, Asia deputy director for Human Rights Watch, accused the Malaysian government of employing ''Trump Style scare tactics to grant itself powers to arbitrarily determine what people can say about Malaysia in the world.''

Malaysia traditional pro-government media have reported on the IMDB controversy only occasionally and in such a muted and largely uncritical fashion.

Despite the concerns, cabinet minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar insisted the law ''will not be abused'', adding : ''It is not aimed at silencing critics.''

The bill must be approved by a majority in the 222-seat lower house and also in the upper house, and this likely as both chambers are controlled by the ruling coalition.

It needs to go through several readings in parliament before it passes. 

[Agencies]