KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s media industry made history today as the Dewan Rakyat passed the Malaysian Media Council (MMC) Bill 2024, which aims, among other things, to safeguard media freedom in ensuring the public receives accurate, credible and fair information.
The bill to establish the MMC was passed with a majority voice vote after it was debated by 18 Members of Parliament.
Deputy Communications Minister Teo Nie Ching, when presenting the bill for the second reading, said the idea of forming a committee or organisation to coordinate media industry governance in Malaysia was first proposed in 1973.
However, she said the establishment of the MMC was only brought to the Cabinet and approved on Dec 6, 2019, before the council’s kick-off meeting was held on Jan 16, 2020, chaired by former Communications and Multimedia Minister Gobind Singh Deo.
“Since early 2023, discussions between the Ministry of Communications and the MMC Pro tem Committee have been actively conducted on a regular basis,“ she said.
Teo said that with the establishment of the MMC, the government is confident that the media industry itself can implement checks and balances to enhance integrity and ethical compliance.
She noted that one of the challenges currently faced by the media industry is the absence of a standard reporting code of ethics applicable to all media practitioners in Malaysia.
According to Teo, if the public feels affected by media reporting, they currently have no platform to lodge complaints, nor is there a resolution mechanism through the existing legal process in the courts.
Therefore, she said the establishment of the MMC would help set media standards, create a communication channel between the public, the media and the government, and serve as a body that facilitates complaint resolution.
“The government believes the time has come to establish a body to coordinate media governance in Malaysia, led by the media industry itself. The formation of the MMC, with the involvement of various stakeholders, will create a comprehensive code of ethics that can be applied across the industry,” she said.
Under the bill, the Malaysian Media Council (MMC) will also be responsible for coordinating matters related to training, capacity building, and professional development of journalists and media organisations. Additionally, it will manage and maintain a database containing information on media practitioners and independent media practitioners to support the continuous development of the media and journalism industry.
When winding up the debate on the bill, Teo said the provision for two government representatives on the MMC Board was made because it is a body established through government legislation and is accountable under the Ministry of Communications.
“The appointed government representatives must be individuals involved in the media industry, meaning they will most likely come from RTM or Bernama.
“If they are also media practitioners, I believe it is beneficial for them to be part of the MMC Board, as they, too, are part of the media industry,” she said.
Teo added that the bill is also a pioneering step in strengthening women’s representation, as it mandates that each category of board members must include at least one female representative.
Additionally, the bill requires each category of board members to include at least one representative from Sabah or Sarawak, along with additional appointments to ensure a balance in terms of gender, locality and media diversity based on language and format.
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