ON behalf of Malaysian Youth Council (MBM), filmmakers and Malaysians, I would like to request Minister of Communications and Multimedia Saifuddin Abdullah to re-examine his recent declaration on requiring licence for all video content.

This concern was raised from yesterday’s Parliamentary proceedings, where Section 22(1) was questioned. The Finas Act describes that anyone wishing to produce, distribute or broadcast films must hold this licence.

When requested for clarification, the minister then stated that all videos are categorised as “films”, including documentaries, short films, feature films, advertising videos and visual recording on any device, including videotapes (also could include audio recordings) and available for public viewing – under the act.

Hence, all content producers, including amateurs and professionals, are required to apply for a licence and film shooting certificate (SPP), at least one week before shooting or the recording is conducted.

This reinstatement contradicts with his following statement, where he went on saying that the ministry supports all individuals and public for their effort in producing and kind of films if they comply with the law.

I would like to enlighten all of you that based on Finas’ requirement – an applicant must be registered as private limited company and must have a paid-up capital of at least RM 50,000.

Many content producers and filmmakers in Malaysia do not meet this requirement. This not only complicates the entire act but creates confusion among citizens.

For myself who have been actively involved in film production, I have witnessed the hardship professional filmmakers go through to get a permit and/or licence before a production.

As for amateurs or students who will need to produce any sort of film content, they’re not made compulsory to get the licence but are advised to get permission from local authority if the shooting or recording process could pose any safety issues.

The current practice is sufficient and is definitely workable. Extending the act to everyone who produces video content on their social media platforms is impractical.

Al Jazeera’s recent documentary may have triggered the minister to declare such statement. This issue could have been handled well by requesting the media to show proof with raw unedited footages together with its script and all other documentations relevant to its claim.

This should also be a lesson to media, journalists and future journalism students to be ethical, respectful and importance of abiding the law of any country. Yellow journalism or sensationalism isn’t the way to play the rightful role of a media.

I truly see that ministries are formed to ease one’s burden and not to complicate it.

We hope that this declaration will not be implemented drastically, Instead, we hope that the minister will look into this matter and announce a better solution to this situation at soonest.

Many young filmmakers and creative content producers are affected by this statement. – July 24, 2020.

* Kavita Maheendran is an exco member of the Malaysian Youth Council.

* 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.