THE unity government has to live up to the expectations for reform, including in allowing media freedom, said reform movement Aliran today.

As starters, the government must repeal the laws that curb media freedom and freedom of expression, added Aliran in a statement.

Aliran was referring to the latest media ranking by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) in which Malaysia’s 2024 press freedom ranking dropped 34 places, from the 73rd spot last year to 107th now.

RSF also gave Malaysia a score of 52.07 points, down from 62.83 points in 2023.

Aliran pointed out that Malaysia’s current score of 52.07 points sets it back to where it was before Pakatan Harapan (PH) took over the federal government for the second time in 2022. 

In May 2022, Malaysia had scored 51.55 points to rank 113th.

Malaysia’s current score of 52.07 points is also similar to its score in 2018 of 52.59, just before PH won the general election for the first time on May 9, 2018.

“What this means is that our press freedom scores are back to where they were before the change of government in 2018 and 2022. 

“Any gains from the change of government after the first year in power have been wiped out in terms of the points score – even though Malaysia’s current ranking of 107th is still an improvement from the 145th in 2018,” said Aliran.

The movement said that although the RSF ranking and score have their shortcomings, they do give an indication of the erosion of media freedom in Malaysia over the last year.

“This is not surprising given that the expectations in the country of a freer media climate and the removal of repressive laws have failed to materialise.

“The prohibition on discussion of the 3Rs (race, religion and royalty) also appears to have contributed to a culture of self-censorship.”

Aliran added that the continued existence of repressive laws such as Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act and the Sedition Act has dampened the climate for media freedom.

It noted that laws have been used to haul up independent writers, bloggers and even social media commentators. 

“The authorities’ high-handed actions have added to the chilling impact on media freedom.

“The government’s launch of a controversial new code of ethics for journalists in February 2024 faced pushback and failed to improve the climate,” said Aliran.

Minister to meet RSF

Meanwhile, Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil said Malaysia’s latest position in the Press Freedom Index was still considered good compared to the previous government.

“Being at 107 (in the Press Freedom Index), that for me is still an unsatisfactory achievement but it’s not too bad either. In 2021, we are on the 119th rung while in 2022, we were ranked 113th.

“However, the current position is still good compared to the previous administration,” he was reported as saying by Bernama.

Commenting on the strategy to improve press freedom, Fahmi said he and RSF agreed to hold a series of meetings and discussions to deal with fake news or the spread of false information in the country.

“They (RSF) have given this commitment. So, God willing, in the near future, we will have a follow-up meeting. I am taking the report (RSF) with an open heart.

“There is a lot that needs to be examined because not all of them match the Eastern values or manners we practise in Malaysia, but we will carefully implement the improvements (press freedom) that we want to see and practice in Malaysia,” he said.

Fahmi, who is also the spokesman of the unity government, reiterated that the government will not compromise with any party that abuses the concept of press freedom by touching on 3R issues besides spreading slander and fake news.

He said this was because there were some parties who deliberately played on the 3R issues after the formation of the unity government.

“Action has been taken against some of those websites and the MCMC (Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission) has said that these websites are actually spreading fake news and playing up 3R issues,” he said. – May 5, 2024.