Malaysia passes bill in parliament to safeguard media freedom

The Malaysian Media Council Bill 2024 has been passed in the Malaysian parliament through a majority voice vote. Following which, the bill will be presented to the Dewan Negara and await the royal assent from the king to be gazetted.  

The bill aims to safeguard media freedom in ensuring the public receives accurate, credible and fair information. The idea to form a media council was first proposed in 1973, deputy communications minister Teo Nie Ching reportedly said.

According to reports by The Star, Teo said that for now, there isn’t a body to manage and fight for the interests of the local media, but with the setting up of the council, the government is confident that media industry players can carry out checks and balances themselves.  

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Teo also said that having two government representatives on the 21-member media council board will not compromise its independence, as they would likely be from RTM and Bernama which are government media agencies, reported FMT.

She added that the inclusion of government representatives was necessary as the media council is a statutory body that will require government funding in the initial stages.  

In tandem, the communications ministry hopes the Malaysian Media Council will be fully established by this or mid-year once the law is enforced, communications minister Fahmi Fadzil told NST.

The Media Council Bill will consist of members from media companies, media associations, as well as non-media members. It will not consider the advertising industry, online service providers and entities which aggregate or reproduce news from other sources.  

Media organisations and journalists in Malaysia have long campaigned for the establishment of a media council, which led to a protem committee being set up in 2020 to discuss and refine the draft bill. 

According to Teo as reported by The Star, the protem committee had grown to 40 members. She also said that the bill came about from efforts and cooperation between the government and media industry representatives.  

Hence, the passing of the bill marks a historic milestone for the local media industry, which had long called for a regulatory body to safeguard media freedom and promote ethical journalism standards in the country.  

Photo courtesy of Teo Nie Ching, Facebook.

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