PUTRAJAYA, May 15 — The 2024 World Press Freedom Index that ranked Malaysia 107 out of 180 countries might not be an accurate reflection as the findings were based on feedback obtained through survey documents, Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil said today.
He said that the organisation behind the annual report, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) did not conduct research “on the ground”.
“On Monday, we met with RSF and we spoke about the report they released. It said it welcomes the engagement with us and is ready to continue to work with the Malaysian government to look at how press freedom here can improve.
“It also explained that the press freedom index report was based on feedback given by respondents through documents they filled up and not necessarily based on RSF’s own initiative on the ground,” Fahmi told a press conference at his ministry here after the weekly Cabinet meeting.
RSF released its annual report on May 3 in which Malaysia earned a score of 52.07 points based on five indicators, down from 62.83 points last year.
The five indicators RSF looks at are: political, economic, legislative, social and security. In its latest report, RSF said that Malaysia and several other democratic countries in the Asia-Pacific region saw their press freedom under attack by their own government.
Fahmi has said that the government will study RSF’s report and proposals for improving its press freedom index.
