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Danish man convicted under Malaysia's anti-fake news law for YouTube video

Salah Salem Saleh Sulaiman is the first person convicted under Malaysia's law prohibiting fake news, which was introduced in April.

Katie Collins Senior European Correspondent
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General view of the city of Kuala Lumpur, capital of

Malaysia introduced its anti-fake news law last month.

 SOPA Images/Getty

A court in Malaysia convicted a Danish national on Monday for inaccurately criticizing police on social media.

Salah Salem Saleh Sulaiman is the first person to be convicted under the country's fake-news law, which was introduced last month. 

Sulaiman's conviction was based on a video he posted to YouTube accusing the police of taking 50 minutes to respond to distress calls following a shooting in Kuala Lumpur on April 21. Police refuted the allegations, saying they took eight minutes to respond. In court, Sulaiman apologized for the video, admitting he was mistaken, according to Reuters.

Malaysia introduced the fake-news law in April, making it illegal to both create and share fake news. Critics of the law say it's designed to curb free speech in Malaysia ahead of the country's general election on May 9. If found guilty, people can be sentenced to prison for up to six years and fined up to 500,000 Malaysian ringgit (which roughly converts to $130,000).

The court fined Sulaiman 10,000 ringgit (about $2,550), but he opted to spend a month in jail because he could not pay.