June 12, 2024
KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia’s press freedom ranking taking a dive should prompt the government to reflect on its performance in this area, not become overly sensitive about it.
YOU are invited as a guest of the Malaysian government to attend an event officiated by the country’s leaders. It will be telecast live on national TV stations.
During the speeches by the VIPs, your organisation is mentioned – but not in a good way. How do you react?
That was what happened during the National Journalists Day (Hawana) celebrations two weeks ago: A representative of the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) NGO was present as guest of honour when Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim dismissed Malaysia being downgraded in the RSF World Press Freedom Index this year.
Touching on press freedom, Anwar said democracy required a free media which entailed the space and freedom to express ideas and views, and share information.
“If you allow racism to flourish or religious bigotry to have a free hand in this country, then you must expect racial strife and religious disharmony.
“I don’t mind if we are downgraded by RSF because we come down hard on racists and religious bigots. Protecting religious minorities and harmony is more important than getting high marks on an international index,” said Anwar.
Malaysia’s ranking in the 2024 World Press Freedom Index declined 34 places from 73rd in 2023.
Anwar’s view of the index was rather dismissive, to say the least. It is a bitter pill to swallow. And it is deja vu, really.
When Malaysia was ranked 119th in 2021, Anwar’s party, Parti Keadilan Nasional, then in the Opposition, was quick to lambast the Perikatan Nasional government.
Fahmi Fadzil, who was the Keadilan Communications director then, sarcastically congratulated the then Communications and Multimedia minister for the very “successful” and “proud” achievement.
He went on to say a restrained media and one that fears the government would create an unhealthy environment, especially when those in power abuse its power, are corrupt, and do not carry out their responsibilities.
He had proposed, among others, that the government repeal the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 and the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, which he alleged were being used to suppress newspapers and news portals.
While it is commendable that Fahmi as the current Communi-cations Minister engaged the RSF, it is hard to ascertain if it was done in good faith. It was selective to dismiss RSF’s index as not being a gold standard but does it mean if Malaysia’s ranking improves, the reaction of the government would be the opposite?
This government should accept the fall in Malaysia’s ranking with an open mind. The world press freedom index is not new and there is no need to compare why Israel’s ranking is better than Malaysia. There is no need to question the methodology used by the RSF to produce its ranking.
The RSF is talking about press freedom and the domestic situation in each country. The NGO has for years been measuring press freedom and this is defined differently from one country to another. About 180 countries are evaluated by the RSF.
The government should instead question itself about how much press freedom there has been in the last 18 months.
The print media and news portals, as the Minister is aware, have been struggling with revenue. Fahmi himself said at the Hawana event that some of the biggest challenges faced by media organisations are economic ones. As a result of the proliferation of social media platforms, a lot of advertising expenditure has migrated there, away from traditional media.
Amid this revenue problem, the media is also facing censorship from this government. In the government’s effort to battle fake news and malicious reporting there have been moves to censor and block portals and online news content.
Last August, several news portals that published articles critical of the government were suspended and required to remove some of their content by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC).
One editor who spoke on condition of anonymity said his portal was blocked for several days after publishing news deemed critical of the government during state elections. That’s right, not for publishing fake news.
“We were already struggling with revenue during Covid-19 and after that we were blocked,” he said.
In its defence, the MCMC then had said there had been an alarming rise in news reporting that “lacked responsibility, sensibility, and accuracy”. It said several irresponsible news outlets had been spreading misleading information or intentionally publishing inaccurate content.
“A lot of our time is spent explaining why some news was uploaded. It is very tiring,” said another member of the media.
But still, advertising revenue is not getting any better especially with the global boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement that supports and advocates for boycotts against all Israeli interests. Companies affected by the boycott have almost stopped advertising in some portals.
The press freedom index is not a failure because it is not about good grades for the government. Not every criticism is bad, some should make the government reflect on its actions.
“I think we are not bad but we are getting worse probably because now we have a government that’s not secure in its position and is seeking to control optics in ways their predecessors never needed to,” said a media industry expert.
“It is even more challenging because this government wants to maintain its image as progressive, the reason people voted it in, but at the same time they want to control [things] for fear people won’t vote for them again,” he said.
This is a situation that calls for greater press freedom, not less, and the government needs to see that first.
No need to be hard on anyone, especially on media organisations trying to put the truth out while constantly having to worry that their rice bowl is threatened by declining revenue.
There is no need to be overly sensitive.