POLITICAL parties should not be the owners of media, said Communications and Multimedia Minister Gobind Singh Deo.

“My stand is we should avoid, to the extent necessary, ownership of media by political parties. But the decision (is) for this government (to make),” he said.

Gobind was speaking at Google’s Think Media - News Publishers and Advertisers Summit, today, where he shared Putrajaya’s initiatives to revamp the media industry.

In its election manifesto, Pakatan Harapan had promised media freedom so the press could provide checks and balances for the government.

This promise was listed under the pledge to abolish oppressive laws but did not mention political ownership of media organisations.

In Malaysia, mainstream media outlets are either owned by business entities linked to political parties or by the parties themselves. MCA and Umno, for example, own The Star Media group and Utusan group, respectively.

Other media organisations linked to the former government, Barisan Nasional, are the New Straits Times and Berita Harian through the Media Prima Group.

Questions have arisen over the direction and control of local mainstream media following PH’s win in the 14th general elections, but the new government has yet to make an open move for ownership.

Gobind said the government was also looking at amending the Communications and Multimedia Act (CMA).

He said that some of CMA’s provisions, particularly Section 233, were “too broad”.

“Section 233, for example, says it is a crime to disseminate material that is deemed offensive, but what is ‘offensive’ and to which party it applies are highly debatable,” said Gobind.

He  commended Google for its efforts to promote quality journalism by combating the spread of misinformation with its project.

“We cannot deny the existence of fake news. (But) What constitutes ‘fake news’ has to be looked at with specific references and context and we want to engage with all stakeholders to combat this problem effectively. – August 20, 2018.