THE unity government should not be curtailing the powers of the media in the name of protecting “the truth” and national harmony, Lawyers for Liberty said today.

The group’s director Zaid Malek said censoring speech and news as “fake news” will stifle discourse on issues of public importance for fear of prosecution.

“Allowing the government to dictate the ‘truth’ would allow them to bury any news that it finds politically unfavourable.

“The attempt by this government to control the media using the excuse of preventing fake or inaccurate news is the hallmark of dictatorial rule. 

“Is only government-approved news allowed to reach the public?” he asked in a statement today.

He was referring to a statement by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) in defending its action of arbitrarily suspending news portals.

On Friday, MCMC said it had to take action to block certain news portals, which were irresponsible and reported inaccurately.

Zaid said MCMC’s reason was similar to excuses given by Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil whenever queried over media websites blocked by the government. 

He said deputy minister Teo Nie Ching had also defended the blocks by claiming that “fake news can be disseminated six times faster than any clarifications”. 

He also said these were seemingly flimsy excuses to clamp down on unfavourable or critical media outlets. 

“It is appalling that this government is disguising the censoring of the media under the guise of protecting the truth for the sake of societal harmony.

“As a government that claims to be committed to reform, they must understand the importance of a free press for the functioning of our democracy. 

“As such, this government must immediately halt blocking of news sites or media censorship using the convenient excuse of fake news. The press must remain free and independent lest the country descend into tyranny,” said Zaid.

He also said MCMC previously used the same reasoning in shutting down news and criticism surrounding the 1Malaysia Development Bhd scandal during Najib Razak’s administration, of which criticisms were later proven true. – September 3, 2023.