Malaysia’s government proposed a new legislation on Monday to outlaw fake news with a 10-year jail term for offenders, a move slammed by critics as a draconian bid to crack down on dissent ahead of a general election. Prime Minister Najib Razak has been dogged by a multibillion-dollar corruption scandal involving an indebted state fund. Rights activists fear the new law could be used to criminalize reports on government misconduct and critical opinions.  The government has accused the opposition coalition of using fake news as a key weapon to win votes and warned that any news on the indebted 1MDB state fund that had not been verified by the government is fake. Governments across the Southeast Asia region are labeling critical reporting as false, opening the way for even more censorship and regulation of the news.