MEDIA rights groups have intensified their push for the establishment of a media council in response to recent moves by authorities to limit the validity period of journalist passes from certain outlets. This action places undue authority in the hands of the government to define and address what constitutes “disinformation”.
The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) secretary-general Teh Athira Yusof noted the need for an impartial approach in utilising the term “disinformation”.
“We need a media council as soon as possible because there should be a more diverse, multi-stakeholder approach to determining what constitutes disinformation.
“Independent bodies, such as journalists’ organisations and civil society groups, should work with the government to identify and tackle disinformation to ensure a fair, unbiased, and conducive media environment,” Free Malaysia Today quoted her as saying.
The recent decision by the information department to shorten the validity of media passes to six months for journalists from newly registered online news outlets has drawn criticism from media advocacy groups. The department justified this move as a measure to combat disinformation and to verify the credibility of the media outlets concerned.
Centre for Independent Journalism executive director Wathshlah Naidu raised concerns over the potential for government abuse of power in exclusively determining what constitutes false information.
She advocated for the establishment of a media council to assume responsibility for drafting a code of conduct, thus preventing any single governmental entity from monopolising the assessment of media truthfulness.
“A media council could assume these responsibilities and draft the code of conduct. This approach prevents any government in power from solely determining the truthfulness of media reports.”
Wathshlah further argued that the shortened validity period for media passes fails to provide adequate time to accurately assess whether new outlets are indeed spreading disinformation.
She also warned against restricting media access based solely on adherence to a code of ethics, cautioning against governmental overreach into media affairs. – March 13, 2024
