The phenomenon of ‘fake news’ poses a serious threat to democracies all over the world because of its ability to significantly influence political and social trends in our societies. In an attempt to prevent such democratic disruptions, governments in the Asia Pacific region are accelerating efforts to fight malicious use of online media, unveiling laws that make it easier to target websites which enable distribution of criminal or fraudulent content. Among the countries cracking down on online media is Australia, which plans to impose tough new laws to prevent social-media platforms from being “weaponized” by terrorists and extremists. Singapore too said it will introduce a law to halt the spread of “fake news” by giving more power to the government to hold online outlets accountable if they’re deemed to have deliberately delivered false news.