KUALA LUMPUR, June 20 — Curbs on journalists have been lifted in recent years but this new-found independence must be closely monitored to prevent abuse, a Cabinet minister told a forum on media freedom last night.

Citing the growth of online news portals, Urban Well-being, Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan said the space has grown by “leaps and bounds” in the past decade and the government views it as a “positive development”.  

“The government is committed to its no-censorship rule… however, we must be cautious at all times because the Internet can be easily misused to inflame violence, incite racial groups and divide multiracial communities; therefore, any responsible government must put in place enforceable guidelines,” he said at a forum organised by the University of Nottingham last night.

“The media market is now accessible to all, not only those privileged few who can afford multi-million-dollar printing licences, or those who can launch satellites or buy broadcasting licences,” said Abdul Rahman.

He said Putrajaya has allowed the media to take pot shots at the Barisan Nasional (BN) government and the public to use social networking platforms to criticise politicians openly.

The minister held up the scrapping of the annual renewal of permits under the Printing Presses and Publications Act (PPPA) in 2011 as a reduction of media control.

But newspapers and periodicals still require a permit under the PPPA to begin —and continue — operating.

“In reality, I believe we have been very progressive when it comes to the media; for example, action taken against the mainstream press has been merely advisory in nature, as opposed to the suspension of its licence in the past,” said the Kota Belud Umno MP.

Despite Abdul Rahman’s assertion, global media watchdog, Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF), placed Malaysia in the 147th position in its World Press Freedom Index 2014 released in February, from the previous year’s 124th spot, noting that access to information in Malaysia has became “more and more limited”.

On October 30 last year, the Court of Appeal unanimously dismissed the Home Ministry’s appeal against a High Court judgment ordering the Home Ministry to issue Malaysiakini’s portal operator Mkini Dotcom Sdn Bhd with a publication permit.

The 15-year-old news portal had applied for a permit to publish 40,000 copies in the Klang Valley, to be sold at RM1 a copy, but the Home Ministry rejected the application in August 2010, but the Court of Appeal’s decision meant the portal operator could re-submit its application for a publication permit.

The dive in the global ranking was also attributed to Putrajaya’s suspension of HCK Media’s weekly publication The Heat on December 19 last year, reportedly due to violations of provisions contained within its printing permit.

In January, the government denied a publishing permit for FZ Daily, a spin off FZ.com, after publisher The Edge Communications Sdn Bhd was granted leave to initiate proceedings against the Home Ministry for deferring its initial approval of the permit.