As usual, the country performs poorly in the Press Freedom Index. Malaysia sits in the same boat with Angola and Madagascar.
According to the Press Freedom Index, Malaysia ranked 143 out of 196 countries.
Scoring 64 points out of 100, Malaysia was in the same boat with countries like Angola and Madagascar.
In the Press Freedom Index, the lower the evaluation score, the freer the country. Evaluation was done based on legal, political and economic environments.
Laws such as the Printing Presses and Publications Act and Sedition Act had long been described as a political tool to silence dissent in Malaysia.
Malaysia falls below East Timor
Regionally, Malaysia ranked below East Timor (18), the Philippines (21), Indonesia (23), Thailand (29) and Cambodia (30) but above Singapore (32), Brunei (34) and Vietnam (36).
Globally, Finland topped the list with Norway and Sweden tied at second place, followed by Belgium, Iceland and Luxembourg.
But the Freedom of the Press 2011 survey, released in conjunction with World Press Day today, showed that overall, freedom of the media had plunged to its lowest in over a decade.
The Washington-based research group Freedom House’s report noted that just one in six people today live in countries with a media designated as free.
World press freedom plunging
The report said that media freedom was on the decline from 2005 to 2010 and the trend had affected all regions.
Only 68 out of the 196 countries and territories assessed last year were rated free while 65 were rated partly free, and 63 considered not free.
Several trends were seen contributing to the steady plunge with misuse of licensing and regulatory frameworks named as a key method of control.
New media like satellite television, the Internet and mobile phones, were also facing crackdowns from repressive regimes, the report noted.
In Malaysia, the Internet is subject to laws governed by the Communications and Multimedia Act.
Looming threats
Meanwhile, media watchdog Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) Malaysia said the people must reclaim the media to make their voices heard.
“In Malaysia, the old barriers still loom large, especially repressive laws that have been so successful in taming print media that they are also used, or are being considered, for new media,” CIJ said in a statement.
It added that a hostile environment for press freedom can only make it difficult for conscientious journalists to practise ethics in their daily work.
“It increases the prevalence of self-censorship, resulting in important issues of public interest being suppressed and executive powers dangerously unchecked.
“And if before, journalists could barely make an unequivocal stand for press freedom, they are silenced now more than ever following the recent sacking of their union president, Mohamed Ha’ta Wahari, for daring to criticise the editors of the newspaper he was working for,” the statement added.
CIJ was referring to the sacking of NUJ president Hata Wahari by Utusan Malaysia after being found guilty of tarnishing the newspaper’s image in his press interviews and statements.
CIJ also said that there was another threat looming in the form of the proposed media council.
“A media council in the current restrictive setting in Malaysia would essentially act as another level of control,” it added.
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