THE Printing Presses and Publications Act (PPPA) 1984 must be abolished if the Malaysian Media Council is to function successfully as a media oversight body, a journalism watchdog said today.

“The Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) would like to reiterate that for the council to be successful, the PPPA must be abolished before or when the council is set up,” CIJ adviser Ding Jo-Ann said in a statement.

“Previous efforts to set up a media council started decades ago and mainly did not succeed because the government would not abolish the PPPA.”

The PPPA is the law that regulates printed materials and requires licences from the Home Ministry for newspapers to publish.

According to the CIJ, it cannot exist simultaneously with a council, which is aimed at self-regulating the industry.

The CIJ said the public would find it difficult to take the council seriously, if the Home Ministry – through the PPPA – still holds power over media agencies.

The CIJ made its call following the news of a pro-tem committee, which is to establish proposals for the council’s function, mandate, constitution and membership.

The committee members were announced on Thursday by Communications and Multimedia Minister Gobind Singh Deo.

“(The CIJ is) look forward to working with the pro-tem committee but to have both the PPPA and the media council simultaneously would defeat the purpose of a self-regulatory body for media standards,” the CIJ said.

The creation of the Malaysian Media Council comes 45 years after it was first mooted.

The council will eventually be empowered to act on public complaints against the media.

It is also anticipated that the council will advise the government about revising or repealing existing media laws. – January 18, 2020.