Malaysia’s Deputy Minister for Communications and Multimedia Jailani Johari said, as quoted by the Malay language Sinar Harian daily, that following the seizure in Bali of luxury yacht Equanimity believed to be owned by businessman Low Taek Jho, the foreign media has been spreading fake news to tarnish Prime Minister Najib Razak’s name ahead of the upcoming general election. In Malaysia, where the mere act of caricaturing Prime Minister Najib Razak as a clown could get you thrown in jail, plans for a new law to stamp out “fake news” before a landmark election have set alarm bells ringing among the opposition and free speech proponents. With the government clamping down on all forms of expression, online media has grown reticent in the face of increasing legal pressure. In the absence of polls and a neutral, objective media, political observers must often look for clues or signs in the strangest of places, writes Karim Raslan for South China Morning Post.