Check facts before accusing us of clamping down on free speech


ON June 4, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights Michelle Bachelet criticised Malaysia and other Asia-Pacific countries for clamping down on free speech and tightening censorship during the Covid-19 outbreak.

She said this in response to a tweet by South China Morning Post journalist, Tahsny Sukumaran, that she was being investigated for an alleged improper use of network facilities to provoke breach of peace in Malaysia.

In addition, the UN human rights office reiterated that the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has opened at least 265 investigation papers on the dissemination of fake news pertaining to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Bachelet said although Covid-19 is terrorising the world, it is nevertheless important to allow free flow of information to foster greater understanding in overcoming this invisible enemy.

Bachelet should visit Malaysia to see for herself what really had happened first hand. Nevertheless, even if she had been to Kuala Lumpur, as a UN high commissioner for human rights, she should have spent more time here to experience how the government dealt with the Covid-19 outbreak rather than making statements based on what was tweeted by Tashny and reports provided to her.  

Once one of the worst Covid-19 affected countries, Malaysia now has about 80% recovery rate. Malaysia is performing better than most first-world nations combating and containing the outbreak.

Daily infection rates involving Malaysians remain in single digits. Infected foreigners, documented and undocumented alike, have been isolated and provided medical treatments, all at the expense of the government.

Undocumented immigrants will be sent back to their respective countries once they are tested negative.

Ever since the enforcement of the movement-control order (MCO), Malaysians are provided with sufficient information by the government through all available mediums to ensure that they are aware of the standard operational procedures to be adhered to in this era of the “new normal”.

Press conferences are held daily by the Defence Minister, Ismail Sabri Yaakob and director-general of health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah to address to the public on both security and health issues regarding Covid-19 respectively.

These press conferences are attended by many journalists and they are free to ask questions without hindrance. There is, in fact, continuous free flow of information from the government down to the public at a daily basis.

Obviously, if fake news is being disseminated to the public, why should the authorities remain silent? Being a responsible government, the authorities must place the safety of the public as an utmost priority by taking against those who spread rumours and fake news.

Journalists should not be afraid of actions against them if they carry out their duties responsibly. – June 8, 2020.

* Associate Professor Dr Mohd Hazmi Mohd Rusli is a senior lecturer at the Faculty of Shariah and Law, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia. 

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.


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Comments


  • There were indeed quite a number of fake news being spread about the Covid19 eg. "the actual death cSes are higher than reported" kind of nonsense or the government lock down has caused human rights violations such especially those illegal immigrants! Come on, we're dealing a death related disease and there's no cure for it. What you expect the government do? Open up the borders?

    There are a lot of false reports based on rumors which is rather upsetting and could cause unnecessary fear among the citizens.

    However the most important thing is that we managed to bring down the infections cases for time being! Despite the fear of festive celebrations that may bring crowd together and thus bringing the infection cases upward, end of the day we did quite all right. Everyone deserve the pat on the back, especially the so call "Back Door Government". Cheers

    Posted 3 years ago by Jonest Wong · Reply