Macau (MNA) –The Macau Portuguese and English Press Association (AIPIM) has expressed perplexity and ‘great concern’ on Article 25 of the Civil Protection Framework, which covers ‘fake news.’
According to the latest draft of the Civil Protection Framework, spreading of rumours during emergency situations could lead to a prison sentence of up to three years.
AIPIM, which was an association that was present during the public consultation phase of the law stated that the phrasing “biased, unfounded and fake news” had never been under discussion.
AIPIM calls on the government and lawmakers at the Legislative Assembly (AL) to clarify the concepts and amend the article in order to provide peace of mind to journalists. The Macau SAR Government has formed the legislation as part of a series of improvements for the local civil protection mechanism for Typhoon Hato in 2017, which had led to several cases of misinformation spread through social media.
[corrected to reflect it is Article 25, not 26 as AIPIM had made an error in the first version of its statement]
