KUALA LUMPUR, July 25 — Banning the media and stopping “unsavoury” news is not a solution, former Cabinet minister Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz said today, after Putrajaya suspended the printing permits for two business dailies over reports regarding troubled 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

Alluding to the three-month suspension of The Edge Weekly and The Edge Financial Daily, she described it as a knee-jerk reaction meant to divert attention from the real issues at hand, arguing that Putrajaya should instead come forward with the full facts on the state-owned firm.

“While freedom of speech must have parameters determined by factors such as decency, respect for the religious beliefs of others, and the rights of the majority, it is important that media is not unduly penalised, not for going beyond those parameters..but for reporting what some determine to be unsavoury,” she wrote on her Facebook page.

“Surely we are not going the way of some countries where media is directed what to print and not otherwise? Those responsible MUST begin to give to the public the FACTS, and communicate coherently and clearly and to say things as they are, regarding 1MDB or other issues of public concern.

“We can ban some publications… it does NOT solve anything, really,” she added.

Rafidah suggested that the word ban be removed from Malaysia’s political vocabulary, warning that moves like the suspension of the two papers would only turn the public against the government.

She stressed that the government needs to adopt a clear-minded and rational approach in the present era of social media, as any move to block information will only spur more discussions online.

“AND Social Media communication will still continue… and now there’s a new topic to discuss, and condemn. And don’t tell me we now must ‘shut down the Internet’?” she said.

Yesterday, The Edge Media Group announced that the Home Ministry has suspended the printing permit of its two flagship publications — The Edge Financial Daily and The Edge Weekly — for three months from next Monday onwards.

Failure to comply with the order will result in the revocation of the permits, the group said, citing the Home Ministry.

Citing a Home Ministry letter, The Edge Media Group said the ministry had stated that the two publications’ reporting of 1MDB were “prejudicial or likely to be prejudicial to public order, security or likely to alarm public opinion or is likely to be prejudicial to public and national interest”.

Last Sunday, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) confirmed that it had asked internet service providers to block access to whistle-blower site Sarawak Report for its allegedly unverified information, pending a multi-agency taskforce’s probe on 1MDB.

No other media outlets have been banned yet, although the MCMC this week gave a special briefing to editors of news portals reminding them not to publish or spread information that has yet to be verified.