THE fallout from the ERA FM controversy continues.
As the public gets increasingly agitated over various parties making insensitive posts that touch on religion on social media, the question that everyone seems to be asking is why the discrepancy in the outcomes.
The ERA FM case has seen the Malay-language radio station’s license holder slapped with a hefty RM250k fine. Some applauded the outcome, saying it was necessary as a deterrent.
But many netizens demanded to know why such a hefty fine for the radio station while those involving comic Harith Iskandar and Cecelia Yap had vastly different sums.
With some suggesting such differing punitive measures would lead to the Madani administration losing Malay-Muslim vote over perceived bias.
Of course, right wing sentiment was never far from the surface, especially when 3R (race, royalty and religion) issues are at play.
The outcry was loud enough for Communications Minister Datuk Fahmi Fadzil to respond. A statement on X addressed the issue pointing out that firstly, the fines differed because one involved an organisation and the others individual citizens. The former, as license holder of a radio station, makes substantial profits.
The Minister also clarified that ERA FM case occurred after Feb 11, where the maximum fine had been raised to RM500k. The Harith and Yap cases were prior to Feb 11 where the maximum fine permitted under the amendment to the Multimedia and Communications Act 1998 (Act 588) was RM50k.
1) Bukan Era FM, tapi Maestra Broadcast Network Systems Sdn Bhd iaitu pemegang lesen MCMC yang dikompaun
2) MBNS bukan individu tapi sebuah anak syarikat milik Astro yang punyai keuntungan substantif
3) Kompaun RM250k MBNS diberi izin TPR antara lain berpandukan perkara2 di… https://t.co/lGGv0YLfUo
— Fahmi Fadzil 🇲🇾 (@fahmi_fadzil) March 11, 2025
This has done little to appease the scores of netizens who were unhappy at the discrepancy in the punitive measures. One even questioned the speed in which the ERA FM case was dealt with as opposed to the other two.
One commenter pointed out that the amended Act 588 referred to the maximum penalty, not the minimum. Hence, why wasn’t the fine in the ERA FM case more lenient and in keeping with those of Harith and Yap.
However, there were those who agreed that such a hefty fine was necessary.
Meanwhile, another suggested those who were complaining about the fine being too heavy to start a donation campaign.
From a simple misunderstanding, the fallout has been great. From tit for tat responses to deep schism forming, Malaysians are paying a very severe price for a joke that got out of hand. – March 13, 2025
Main image: era.je
