MP nudges Putrajaya to form long overdue media council
This came as international non-profit Reporters Without Borders (RSF) ranked Malaysia at the 113th position in the World Press Freedom Index 2022 this evening.
In a statement today, DAP called for the media council to be...
The federal government was called to form a long-overdue media council as a self-regulating body to facilitate responsible media freedom in the country.
This came as international non-profit Reporters Without Borders (RSF) ranked Malaysia at the 113th position in the World Press Freedom Index 2022 this evening.
In a statement today, DAP called for the media council to be formed to ensure press freedom and regulate responsible media freedom.
The council was said to have been discontinued after the Pakatan Harapan federal government was ousted in the Sheraton Move political coup two years ago.
"Sadly, Malaysia has nothing to celebrate especially with our disappointing ranking on the index.
"We have been stuck in what was termed by the report as a 'difficult situation' for press freedom since the treacherous Sheraton Move," said DAP's Kluang MP Wong Shu Qi (above).
She said media freedom in Malaysia has deteriorated to pre-2018 levels.
This is in contrast to improvements under Harapan when Malaysia rose by 22 positions in the 2019 rankings, a year after Harapan took over the federal administration, she said.
‘New era of polarisation’
The country’s rank of 113th this year is an improvement from 119th last year despite its overall score deteriorating from 60.53 to 51.55.
"While RSF employed a new methodology for measurement in the 2022 report, and despite ascending six places on the index, the overall difficult situation for media freedom in Malaysia remained unchanged.
"The RSF report rightly pointed out that we are now in a new era of polarisation. Therefore, it is crucial for us to mitigate the impact of such polarisation in a multiracial society in Malaysia," said the DAP spokesperson for communication and multimedia.
Wong went on to say the way forward must include providing a safe space and encouragement for civil and frank conversations.
Honesty and transparency are crucial for reconciliation, she said, just as suppression and secrecy promote polarisation.
"Therefore, DAP calls upon the federal government to immediately form the long overdue independent Media Council as a self-regulating body to facilitate, protect, and regulate responsible media freedom in this country.
"A report and draft bill on the formation of a Media Council were prepared under Harapan but was then discontinued after the fall of the Harapan government.
"The impact of the Sheraton Move will be felt in many areas for a long time to come if we do not immediately reverse the damages done," she said.
She said the media is critical to restoring and rebuilding democracy and called for expanding and protecting the right to media freedom in Malaysia.
Proposal submitted in 2020
In August 2020, the proposed draft bill on setting up the media council along with a report were submitted to the Communications and Multimedia Ministry.
The media council aims to promote a legislative and regulatory environment conducive to media freedom and defend press freedom in the country.
Membership of the media council will be open to all organisations, journalists, and individuals actively involved in the regular production of news content.
Under the proposed bill, an independent body that responds to public complaints, mediates complaints, and advocates on behalf of media industry professionals will be set up.
In its report submitted to the government, the pro-tem committee urged the government to repeal the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 and review certain regulations in the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.
