Opposition chairman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad is in hot water, after falling under police investigations for allegedly spreading fake news.
Yes, a 90-something-year-old man, who also happens to be running for Prime Minister, is being taken to legal task over his allegedly nonsensical ramblings after his charter plane experienced a technical fault.
Dr M is alleging sabotage at the hands of nefarious forces; however, both the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia and the jet’s firm, VistaJet, have denied that any hands were at play in the grounding of his plane.
Local group Umno Grassroots Movement were behind the report, saying that Dr M’s declarations had let to anxiety among Malaysian about the level of public safety.
Public safety on a private jet? Ah, the world never ceases to amuse us.
Over the weekend, Mahathir claimed that the plane he had boarded en route to Langkawi was sabotaged. No evidence to back up these was given at the time, and investigations into the plane only found that fluid was leaking from the left-side nose wheel of the plane.
Mahathir is standing as the parliamentary candidate for Langkawi in the upcoming May 9 elections.
Since the introduction of the Anti-Fake News Law 2018 last month, eight cases have been filed, Mahathir’s included. The other seven include three cases of mischief, and a report filed against a police officer.
Last week, a Danish man was the first to be convicted under the law for spreading fake news regarding the death of a Palestinian scientist in Kuala Lumpur.
If you’re game to get philosophical about the meaning of “fake,” we here at Coconuts KL are revisiting Baudrillard’s Simulacra and Simulation. Hit us up in the comments section, and let’s get #deep.
