Ministry considering proposal for MCMC registration of online news portals

Minister Datuk Seri Dr Salleh Said Keruak said the idea was to make news portals in the country more responsible and enable the MCMC to determine the volume of visitors to such portals.

The matter was in the final stage of discussion before being presented to the Attorney-General's Chambers by the end of this year, he said to reporters after presenting the prizes for the Merdeka 2017 Instagram (Photo and Video) Competition and launching the album of the Patriots band here.

Special Affairs Department director-general Datuk Dr Mohd Puad Zarkashi was also present at the event.

"Registration will be based on certain criteria which will determine whether the news portals are eligible for registration or otherwise. Upon registration, all the news portals will be subject to the laws of the Communications and Multimedia Act, and this will facilitate control and monitoring by MCMC," said Salleh.

Salleh said that besides the registration of the print media, the registration of online media was also the practice in other countries, including Singapore.

He said the ministry would collaborate with the Home Ministry to ensure smooth and orderly implementation of the registration, besides having meetings with the operators of the online media.

The Merdeka 2017 Instagram (Photo and Video) Competition organised by JASA attracted 31,220 entries, exceeding the targeted number of 10,000 entries.

The competition, which was held from April 16 to Aug 16, was divided into two categories – photographs and video clips – for participation by members of the public, tertiary students and secondary students.

It was the fifth annual competition since 2013 in conjunction with National Day, which this year falls on Thursday.

In the video category, Ahmad Syadiduddin Zamrudin, 24, of Besut, Terengganu, was adjudged the winner in the public segment, Muhammad Haziq Johari, 20, of Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) Puncak Alam in the tertiary student segment and Muhammad Zameer Ilman Nordin Khairuzi, 14, of SMK Padang Negara, Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu, in the secondary student segment.

In the photograph category, Lee Leong Joo, 40, of Klang, Selangor, was adjudged the winner in the public segment, Mohd Rafiq Redzuan Hamzah, 24, of the Management and Science University (MSU) in the tertiary student segment and the holder of instagram anisamirah85 in the secondary student segment.

Salleh presented all the winners with RM1,200 cash, a gold wafer and a ‘setemku’ product.

Every entry was scrutinised by a panel of 10 professionals from the National Visual Arts Development Board, Department of Broadcasting Malaysia (RTM), Malaysian National News Agency (BERNAMA), Karangkaraf Media Group and Utusan Melayu (M) Berhad.

The winners were selected based on creativity, technique of photography and use of applications, adherence to the stipulated concept, and portrayal of the noble values of Malaysian society.