PETALING JAYA: As criticism against the government and its policies mount during the pandemic, an activist has raised concerns over whether clampdowns on the media will intensify, with several such cases already reported over the last year.
Among them are the RM500,000 fine on Malaysiakini for a reader’s comments, the investigations into Al Jazeera for its migrant worker expose and the recent probe into stories from Malaysiakini and China Press about the police, said documentary maker Mahi Ramakrishnan.
Speaking at a forum to mark World Press Freedom Day organised by Suhakam and the United Nations, she said; “Once the vaccination drive is over and once we start recovering from his Covid-19 mess, (media narratives are) really going to be about the emergency, whether parliament is convening, what’s going to happen to this government, is it really in power now, has it actually collapsed? All of this will start coming out.
“My biggest fear when that is happening is the government will clamp down even harder.”
On the issue of fake news, Vinodh Pillai, the Centre for Independent Journalism’s media monitoring and action programme officer, said the government should take a different approach than using punitive measures, as this does little to address the misinformation caused.
“Don’t penalise errors, don’t prosecute misinformation, don’t censor dissenting opinions. What you can do is inform with facts, promote informed debates and uphold human rights standards,” he said, noting that 274 investigation papers were opened in 2020 into fake Covid-19 news.
“The government can do better when it responds (to fake news). For example, when the government issues daily clarifications on what is fake news, it just says ac certain government department said so. It doesn’t say how it is fake, what exactly is wrong, and what is actually right.”
Instilling media literacy and critical thinking in children from a young age is important, said Emma Mirza Wati Mohamad, chairperson of the Centre for Research in Media and Communications. She said an educational approach was being explored in some countries to prepare children for fake news and hate speech they may encounter online.
“Here in Malaysia, we are all about protecting our children, not letting them see this kind of content. But one day they will. It’s about preparing them as early as possible to know how to react and become critical thinkers when they are presented with this kind of information.”
She said that in the United States, for instance, some groups are exploring ways to include some form of media education in school and university curriculums.
Providing an update on the long floated Freedom of Information Act, Punitha Silivarajoo, the director of policy and research in the prime minister’s department’s legal affairs division, said the government has been working hard on ironing out issues and engaging with stakeholders, and hopes to have something ready by “sometime next year.”
Among questions that needed addressing were whether it would replace or coexist with the controversial Official Secrets Act 1972; what would be the scope of information to be accessed and how to justify access to certain documents.
She said these questions have arisen in Selangor and Penang, the only two states with freedom of information provisions, and said her office would continue to study these examples and engage with other experts.
