Malaysia’s press freedom ranking drops, now what?
By Zan Azlee
I thought about writing about the whole Type C and the Darsa Fried Chicken debacle, but I think Malaysia had enough stories and narratives about racist boycotts.
I bet that if we just ignore it, this particular non-issue will just blow over (like how so many of the past insignificant stories should have). So, I guess it’s going to be about how the country’s World Press Freedom rank has slidfrom 73 to 107 this year as indexed by Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
The report that accompanied the ranking stated that “news sites critical of the government are often blocked in Malaysia”.
We attained a score of 52.07 across several indicators – political (44.35), economic (45.63), legislative (34.04), social (52.62), and security (83.72).
Malaysia is in the company of countries like the Maldives (106) and Burundi (108). We used to be the highest-ranked country in Asean but not anymore. Thailand is ranked 87.
There have been several instances where new sites have been blocked. For example, in August 2023, UtusanTV.com was blocked and users who went to the site were redirected to a notice which stated ”this website is not available in Malaysia as it violates the national law”.
Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil said that although the latest ranking isn’t satisfactory, it is not too bad. Of course, he was comparing it to Malaysia’s ranking under different administrations.
He mentioned that the government is willing to engage RSF to improve press freedom. Fahmi stated that there are many items to be examined, but not all “match the Eastern values or manners we practice in Malaysia”.
This is a little bit ironic seeing that in 2023, Malaysia ranked 73, the highest the country had ever been ranked in the RSF’s index. It was under the same administration that the country is under right now. In fact, it is still in the same term.
At that time, the government was so proud and singing praises to itself. Fahmi said then that they want to build on this success and the government will look into new laws and policies to strengthen media freedom.
How come when everything is going our way, then it’s fine and dandy and we can take the index at face value, but when our ranking suddenly drops, there just might be values and practices that do not suit our culture and society?
I say that the government should not make any excuses. It is what it is and they should just acknowledge that our ranking has slipped (a whopping 34 spots!). Tell us what you plan to do, so that our ranking doesn’t continue to slip and improve next year. Don’t be so defensive.
I’ll be honest and say that I had high hopes for the government when it was formed in 2022. There were many promises I was hoping would be fulfilled (or were there no real promises and I was just blinded by the bling?).
Yes, I do admit there have been some improvements. The proposed formation of the Malaysian Media Councilis one very significant step in the right direction. And yes, criticism towards the government or even leaders is generally more accepted now and even leads to some positive engagement.
With that being said, there are also many other concerning issues that have happened. The blocking of news sites as previously mentioned is one.
Another is that the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 (PPPA) still exists even though it was highly criticised before. In fact, the government will not be amending or reviewing it.
Some archaic laws such as the Sedition Act 1948 and the Communication and Multimedia Act still exist in their original form. These could do with some amendments to better define them so they can’t be abused. Just because they haven’t been abused doesn’t mean there isn’t a risk for them to be abused.
Deep down inside, despite the fact that Malaysia’s press freedom index has dropped, I still think there is hope. I am still banking on the current administration to do more positive and progressive things to improve the country’s situation.
As Fahmi says, he “is taking the RSF report with an open heart”. I am also taking the government’s intention to engage with RSF with an open heart.
I don’t know. I still want a better Malaysia but maybe I’m just older and less confrontational or aggressive now as compared to 20 years ago. So, have that engagement with RSF, and then form the media council.
Then tell us what you plan to do so that things will be better and follow through. I don’t want excuses or defensive deflection. I just need to know what the government is going to do to improve.
[This article was originally written for and published at Malaysiakini.com]
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