‘Press freedom ranking under unity govt better’
Malaysia’s standing in the World Press Freedom Index under the unity government is still better compared with those of previous administrations.
Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil said looking at the standing since 2017, the present 107th standing was not bad compared with 144th in 2017.
Malaysia was at 145th place in 2018, 123rd place in 2019, 119th place in 2021 and 113th place in 2022.
“So, to be 107th, it is not satisfactory, but can be considered not too bad.
“The standing now is still better compared with that of previous administrations,” he said when asked to comment on Malaysia’s drop in the World Press Freedom Index.
It was reported that Malaysia’s standing in the index produced by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) dropped by 34 places to 107th from 73rd.
The index reported that Malaysia’s score stood at 52.07 points compared with 62.83 last year.
Last year, Malaysia saw a leap of 40 places to 73rd, compared with 2022 when it was at 113th.
This decline placed Malaysia below its (87th) and positions it as the second highest-ranking Asean country, surpassing Indonesia (111th), Brunei (117th), Singapore (126th), the Philippines (134th), Cambodia (151st), Laos (153rd), Myanmar (171st), and Vietnam (174th).
Fahmi said since the change in government, and the formation of the unity government, there were various quarters who played on 3R issues (race, religion and royalty).
He said action had been taken against some websites. The Communications and Multimedia Commission told them that they had broken the rules.
“The government will not compromise with the abuse of media freedom, more so if it involves spreading fake news or playing up 3R issues.
“There are several Netizens who have made remarks,” he added, noting that among them was Singapore’s 126th standing, which might not reflect the actual reality of its citizens.
“Similarly, if we look at countries of higher standings, their situation may be different.
“Yes, in their Parliament, they may be more like Sweden. I am made to understand that their lawmakers have a strong stand against Islam. For me, that is confusing.
“Yes, there are people who have compared Malaysia to Israel.
“Israel killed the people of Gaza. So why are you comparing Malaysia to Israel?
“Perikatan Nasional’s Datuk Wan Saiful Wan Jan said we are worse than Israel. But we did not kill anyone.”
Fahmi said not one journalist has been arrested or thrown into prison, nor any newspaper companies ordered to close.
Wan Saiful, who is Tasek Gelugor member of parliament, had blamed Fahmi for the drop in Malaysia’s standing in the index.