Malaysia arrests five for spreading fake news about coronavirus

Four people were arrested on Wednesday and one on Tuesday for uploading false information on social media

Premier Mahathir Mohamad earlier warned Malaysians against spreading disinformation about the deadly virus

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Passengers wearing face masks queue at the immigration counter upon arrival at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 in Sepang on Wednesday. Photo: AFP

Published: 11:24pm, 29 Jan 2020Updated: 4:11am, 30 Jan 2020

A tutor, two pharmacy assistants and a university student were arrested in Malaysia on Wednesday for spreading fake news about the coronavirus.

This comes after a 34-year-old man was detained in Bangi on Tuesday for spreading false information about the influenza-type virus that originated in Wuhan in China and has infected more than 6,000 people worldwide, mostly in China.

The police and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission made the four arrests on Wednesday in separate operations in Melaka, Kedah and Pahang.

In a statement, the MCMC said a 49-year-old part-time tutor was arrested at around noon after allegedly uploading fake news about the virus on Facebook on Saturday.

In Melaka, two pharmacy assistants aged 25 and 30 were picked up in Peringgit and Merlimau at around 4pm to help with investigations into the spread of fake news about the virus on a Facebook page on Sunday.

A 24-year-old student at a public university in Kuantan was also arrested for the same offence after allegedly uploading fake news about the virus on Twitter on Monday.