Malaysian Media Council Bill expected to be tabled in June

PUTRAJAYA: The Malaysian Media Council Bill is expected to be tabled in Parliament in June, says Fahmi Fadzil.

The Communications Minister said the Cabinet had given its approval on this and would wait for a draft of the Bill to be presented by the Attorney General's Chambers.

"Once Cabinet approves the draft, it can be tabled in Parliament. We are targeting June," he said on Wednesday (Feb 21).

Fahmi, who is also government spokesman, said the Malaysian Media Council could be set up once the Bill is passed.

He said the formulation of the law to set up the council was first initiated in 2019.

"However, it was on the backburner due to several changes in government but the government today is committed to seeing this materialise," he said.

The Bill aims to outline a code of conduct and dispute resolution procedure for public complaints against the media and establish a budget for the council.

On Jan 18, Deputy Communications Minister Teo Nie Ching said they had prepared a draft Cabinet memorandum on the Bill to be sent to the AGC for approval.

She said that the ministry was optimistic that the Bill would be ready in time for tabling at the Dewan Rakyat meeting from Feb 26 to March 27 but said they were confident the Bill would be presented at the subsequent second meeting in June if otherwise.