KUALA LUMPUR: Mkini Dotcom Sdn Bhd today filed an application for leave for a judicial review to challenge the Anti-Fake News Act which it claims is unconstitutional.
The company, which runs news portal Malasiakini, filed the application with the High Court Registrar via law firm Daim & Gamany.
The application named the government and the home minister as respondents.
The company is seeking a declaration that the act violates Articles 5(1) and 10(1) of the Federal Constitution and therefore considered null and void.
In an affidavit-in-support, Mkini Dotcom chief executive officer J. Premesh Chandran claimed the act put too heavy a burden on the news portal to ensure that everything published is explicitly true.
He claimed the rights of free speech under Article 10(1)(a) of the Federal Constitution were being infringed upon by the act.
The Anti-Fake News Act was passed in Parliament on April 2 and went into effect on April 11.
Article 5(1) of the Constitution states that no person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty, save in accordance with law, while Article 10(1)(a) states that every citizen has the right to freedom of speech and expression.