MAY 3 — Today is World Press Freedom Day.

In the 20 months under Pakatan Harapan, Malaysia leaped from ranking number 145 in the World Press Freedom Index in 2018 to number 101 in the same Index in 2020. The index is published by Reporters Without Border (RSF)

From 2013 to 2018, Malaysia performed very poorly in the World Press Freedom Index. In fact, Malaysia was among the bottom 25% worst performers. However, with the change of government in May 2018, our ranking improved rapidly from 145 (2018) to 123 (2019) and finally 101 (2020).

The Pakatan Harapan government set down to abolish and amend several anti-democratic laws, such as the Anti-Fake News Act 2018, and the Universities and University Colleges Act 1971. One of the last acts of the government was to set up a media council with representatives from the industry. The aim of the council was to improve journalism and media in Malaysia and restore public confidence in our media.

From a country which arrested and threatened journalists, Malaysia after May 2018 became a country which supported freedom the media. Journalists, newspapers and the media in general were given freedom to report including to criticise the government, a power which they utilised often during the 20 months of Pakatan Harapan administration.

Yet, what we achieved through much hardship and struggle will be in vain if the Perikatan Nasional government reverses these efforts.  From the rate things are going so far, by this time next year, Malaysia’s hard-earned improved ranking in the World Press Freedom Index will certainly drop.

Despite the large trust deficit in the new regime, I hope that the current Minister of Communication and Multimedia will stand firm and continue to pursue the media reform agenda launched by Pakatan Harapan which he was a part of. Fundamentally, the Government must allow media practitioners to do their job without fear or favour.

Therefore, it is very unfortunate that on the eve of World Press Freedom Day, the Perikatan Nasional government decided to haul up a local correspondent of the South China Morning Post, Tashny Sukumaran. She was investigated under section 504 of the Penal Code. Tashny had just written a news report on the authority’s handling of migrant workers due Covid-19 in Kuala Lumpur on Labour Day. It is a detailed and lengthy report, citing several sources.

If the government chose to harass a journalist in such high handed manner, how can we expect the media to report truth bravely?

Speaking from experience during the Pakatan Harapan administration, it is indeed a challenge to balance between freedom of the media and post-truth politics. The government then had to deal with various poisonous disinformation campaign, including provocation of racial and religious tensions sometimes by seemly credible media agencies, but often through sponsored online platforms.

The obvious weakness of the Pakatan Harapan government was of course our failure to deal effectively with the disinformation. However, the achievement of Malaysia being the beacon of media freedom in this region must not be trampled upon just because we need to deal with disinformation.

I want to warn the Perikatan Nasional government not to take the easy way out. Deal with disinformation not by stifling press freedom. In fact, the best way to deal with falsehood is by allowing people to speak the truth. The Covid-19 pandemic has demonstrated how fake news is dangerous and may even threaten our health and lives. The way to deal with this is to have credible media to speak the truth.

Credible media is a core component of a functioning democracy. If the media is not allowed to report the truth without fear or favour, there will be no trust in the society, as the public does not know who to trust anymore. A society without trust and without respect for the truth will be one that is dysfunctional.

But credible media needs to be nurtured, supported, and given a safe space to grow. There are enough laws at this point to deal with defamation, violence, as well as hate speech. These laws have to be used responsibly and transparently to deal with misinformation, not to break the strength of the media as an independent fourth estate.

With a huge minus point for Perikatan Nasional’s action against a local journalist on the eve of World Press Freedom Day, it is critical that the government increases its efforts to maintain the good records achieved by Malaysia in the World Press Freedom Index in the past two years. Unless of course, Perikatan Nasional is already planning to sink our country to the lows of the Najib Razak era.

*Wong Shu Qi is Member of Parliament for Kluang.

** This is the personal opinion of the writer and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.