116 Dictating the Internet: vii. Laws which aim to control spread of “disinformation” online In recent times, laws have come into force to regulate online information in order to address the spreading of “disinformation” or “false information” online. This section highlights laws in Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore, Philippines and Laos. It notes that in practice, justifications for criminalizing the “new” offence of spreading disinformation often overlap with “old” broad-brush arguments to protect “security”, “public order” and “stability” which have fueled misuse of earlier laws. Most existing laws governing electronic information or telecommunications include the offence of intentionally spreading “false or misleading data” online. Sections 14(1) and (2) of Thailand’s CCA penalize the “entering of false computer data into a computer system… likely to cause damage to the general public” or “to the protection of national security, public safety, or panic to the general public.” Article 28(1) of Indonesia’s UU ITE imposes penalties on any person who “knowingly and without authority disseminates false and misleading information resulting in consumer loss in electronic transactions”. Sections 211(1) and 233(1)(a) of Malaysia’s MCA ban the provision of “false content” along with “obscene or offensive” content “with intent to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass any person.” Section 29 of Brunei’s Telecommunications Act penalizes any person who “transmits or causes to be transmitted by telecommunication a message which he knows to be false or fabricated”.435 More recently, some countries have brought into force specific laws to govern spreading “false information”. These laws already appear to be at high risk of abuse because they include the same severe limitations that have plagued older laws in the region. This section begins with the positive example of Malaysia, where an ‘anti-fake news’ law brought into force before its 2018 elections was recently repealed by its new government. Malaysia In April 2018, a month before the general elections, Malaysia’s Anti-Fake News Act (AFNA) came into force, amidst significant criticism that the law would be misused to curtail freedom of expression, opinion and 435 The penalty for such an offence is five years’ imprisonment and a fine of B$24,000 (approx. USD 17,770). Telecommunications Act 1974 (Cap. 54), Available at: http://www.agc.gov.bn/AGC%20 Images/LOB/PDF/Chp.54.pdf