Govt gives assurance on continued protection for media freedom - Fahmi

KUALA LUMPUR: The government will continue to defend media freedom and this assurance has been given by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, said Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil.

Fahmi said under the present government, not a single journalist or media practitioner had been arrested by police and no newspapers or media organisations had been shut down by the authorities.

"As a sign of the government's commitment and support to continue enhancing media freedom in the country and helping media practitioners deal with challenges, the government in principle has agreed to the proposed establishment of the Malaysian Media Council (MMC) as a self-regulatory body via related acts.

"The proposed establishment of MMC has considered the role of the council to defend the freedom of media in the country to disseminate information. Eight meetings have been held with the pro tem committee since January 2020," he said.

Fahmi said this during Minister's Question Time in the Dewan Rakyat today when replying to a question from Ahmad Fadhli Shaari (PN-Pasir Mas) on the government's assurance that it would not abuse the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to restrict freedom of the media and speech, especially regarding social media content.