KUALA LUMPUR – While the government respects freedom of expression, there is no free pass for slanderous and erroneous reporting by the media, said Fahmi Fadzil.
The communications and digital minister said press freedom is very important to the government.
“Ensuring all reports are factually correct is very important…the media should not just focus on being the first one to get the news out.
“For example, there were instances of misreporting during the recent six state elections,” he told a press conference after the Malaysia Digital Expo 2023 media launch.
He also expressed hope that the Malaysian Media Council would be a good avenue to mitigate, discuss and resolve certain related issues.
“I plan to raise this matter in Parliament for discussion next year,” he said.
On criticism against the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) for instructing a news portal to change or remove reports pertaining to a ruckus in the Dewan Rakyat, Fahmi said he had yet to receive a briefing on the matter.
“MCMC does not refer everything to me before they act and sometimes it is a collaboration in conjunction with investigations with police or based on public complaints that they receive,” he added. – The Vibes, September 25, 2023
