KUALA LUMPUR: Media organisations that promote societal violence and hate speech have no place in Malaysia or any civilised society.
Deputy Minister of Communications Teo Nie Ching said the government can regulate, run enforcement campaigns based on the existing laws and hold education campaigns to teach the young and old not to visit these kinds of media but ultimately, it comes down to the individual not to do so.
"We must realise that simply visiting rewards the site the algorithm and then does the rest. The rejection of harmful and dangerous content is not just good for the individual but for the nation as a whole," she said at a dinner organised by the National Press Club of Malaysia in conjunction with the launch of the NPC Professional Development Series (PDS) on Thursday night.
Teo said journalists in this country today enjoy a far more robust media ecosystem as reflected in the improvement of Malaysia's international press freedom rankings and that should be seen as a good beginning.
However, she said greater efforts are required to move Malaysia further up in the rankings.
"Improving Malaysia's press freedom rankings is a collective effort that requires concerted effort. I'm here tonight to tell you that I'm on this journey with you. Press freedom rankings are not enough, although we target to bring our ratings into the top 30 in the coming years.
"Malaysia is a Muslim majority country that respects the rights of the individual and minorities. As such, we must temper our freedoms with a shared responsibility. This responsibility to the truth is at the core of journalism as we know it," she said.
At the event, Teo also launched the Madani Mobile Journalism (MOJO) Reporter's Handbook, published by the Tun Abdul Razak Broadcasting and Information Institute (IPPTAR).
The handbook is the result of a collaboration between local media practitioners, academics from IPPTAR, the Faculty of Communication and Media Studies at Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), the Information Department, the Broadcasting Department and the Malaysian National News Agency (BERNAMA).
In its statement, IPPTAR said the publication of this handbook is aimed at producing media practitioners and citizen journalists who are fast, accurate and ethical. --BERNAMA