CIJ’s Right to Information (RTI) Public Consultation 2020

Right to Information (RTI) promotes transparency and accountability and strengthens the public’s right to be informed.

Obscuring information that could influence public opinion on how they can assist in tackling issues of interest to them would almost likely backfire on those preventing the information from being made public in the first place.

Currently, in Malaysia, only Selangor and Penang have Freedom of Information (FOI) Enactments, which recognise and uphold the fundamental right to information within state boundaries.

However, these enactments cannot override the federal-level Official Secrets Act (OSA). This law and other similar laws, such as the Evidence Act, Sedition Act and specific Penal Code provisions have been arbitrarily used in the past to silence dissent and advocates of transparency and accountability.

The Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) and the Freedom of Expression CSO Coalition members have been engaged in a campaign aimed at advocating for a Right to Information legislation.

Relatedly, CIJ is launching this consultation to ask for your views on RTI, in particular, the current environment in which information is obtained and what you would like to see in an RTI legislation.

Let us know your thoughts in our consultation here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/DP5CHVG

Further information about this consultation can be accessed here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1l8G1fqqLaZIi5_YvgTxXwprtxRfxLFgx/view?usp=sharing