Malaysia’s Federal Court on Wednesday dismissed the Malaysian Bar’s bid to appeal a government emergency proclamation over fake news amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The bar raised 27 constitutional questions concerning the validity of the law. Still, the court ruled that the bar did not fulfill the threshold requirement under Section 96 of the Courts of Judicature Act, which was the basis for the Federal Court’s decision to deny leave.

Local media reported that the decision was delivered online by a three-member bench, Court of Appeal President Tan Sri Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim, and two Federal Court judges, Datuk Rhodzariah Bujang and Datuk Nordin Hassan.

Former prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin enacted the emergency proclamation to combat what the government called “fake news” regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. It was put in effect from January 12, 2021, until August 1, 2021, and stated:

Any person who, by any means, with intent to cause, or which is likely to cause fear or alarm to the public or any section of the public, creates, offers, publishes, prints, distributes, circulates, or disseminates any fake news or publication containing fake news commits an offense and shall, on conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred thousand ringgit or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years or to both.

At the time, Bar Council president Salim Bashir said the ordinance would “curtail the constitutionally enshrined principle of freedom of expression, a move to silence the rakyat [citizens].”

The emergency ordinance received widespread criticism from human rights organizations and legal experts. Malaysian Bar Council President Salim Bashir has raised specific concerns, highlighting that the ordinance gives police officers extensive powers to obtain evidence. He also stressed that several aspects of the ordinance would undermine natural justice and defendants’ ability to have a fair trial. Senior Fellow at the Singaporean Institute of International Affairs, Dr. Oh Ei Sun, raised concerns about the overly ambiguous definition of fake news within the ordinance, further adding to the criticisms.

The government initially stated that the emergency proclamation was a de facto update on the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 and that new legislative measures needed to be updated to counter misinformation. Yet, the last administration repealed a previous Anti-Fake News Act in 2019.

Lawyer Abdul Rashid Ismail, representing the bar, said that following today’s decision, Malaysia’s High Court will hear their originating summons filed in 2021 and that the High Court had scheduled that hearing for June 24.