A group of print and radio journalists from Sabahan media met with Centre for Independent Journalism director Sonia Randhawa in Kota Kinabalu in early October to discuss media reform and freedom of information, building upon promises made by the recently elected Pakatan Harapan government to make Malaysia’s human rights record respected around the world.
Malaysian law provides for a licensed print media, with licenses subject to strict control; has a broadly defined Sedition Act; and has an Official Secrets Act which prevents public scrutiny of information including contracts and environmental data. The Malaysian government has promised to repeal the act governing print media, the Printing Presses and Publications Act and the Sedition Act as well as pass a Freedom of Information Act.
To date, the Cabinet has passed a moratorium on the use of the Sedition Act, but appears to be noncommittal to both the repeal of the Printing Presses and Publication Act and the Freedom of Information Act.
The Government has also reiterated its support for a voluntary Media Council driven by journalists and editors, which formed the mainstay of the discussion in Kota Kinabalu on
8 October 2018. Journalists discussed the importance of a voluntary media council to protect editorial independence from both government and owners, whether the latter are political parties, commercial entities or individuals. The discussion included ways in which the media council could be funded, whether wholly by government, or with contributions from members.
It was emphasized that the media council exists to provide a service to members, whether media organisations or individual journalists and bloggers, to help ensure that they maintain and uphold the highest ethical and editorial standards. Further, the media council should act as an intermediary between the media and the public, helping to mediate conflict between the two in an impartial fashion, thus helping to both restore and maintain public confidence in journalism.
Journalists further recognized the importance of the repeal of the Printing Presses and Publications Act (PPPA) as a prerequisite to the setting up of a Media Council. Under the PPPA, the relevant Minister can suspend or withdraw the permit for a newspaper. This power means that, despite efforts by individual journalists and editors, the newspaper’s survival depends on keeping the Minister, and by extension the Government, satisfied with editorial output, rather than putting the interests of the readers or the public first. In such a situation, it is close to impossible to mandate ethical journalism that fulfils the fundamental imperative of putting the public’s right to information at the heart of editorial decision. The meeting discussed how this could be achieved in a Sabahan context, and the importance of East Malaysian representation on any national bodies governing the media.
CIJ hopes that this initiative will contribute to paving the way for meaningful legislative reform, with the repeal of both the Sedition Act and the PPPA in the current Parliamentary sitting, and the initiation of wide-ranging consultation on both freedom of information and the reform of the Communications and Multimedia Act, which governs broadcasting and internet provision.