KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Media Council Bill, which is an effort to strengthen cooperation between the government and media industry representatives, will be tabled for the second reading in the Dewan Rakyat on Wednesday (Feb 26).
Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil said discussions between the Communications Ministry and the Malaysian Media Council Protem Committee have been held regularly since early 2023.
He said the Protem Committee comprises 40 representatives from media associations, media practitioners, independent media practitioners, academicians and media companies such as Malaysiakini, Astro Awani, The Star, Berita Harian, Sinar Harian, Makkal Osai, Malaysian Nanban, Malaysian Tamil Media Association, China Press and Sin Chew Daily.
"As a result, this Bill can be drafted in line with the media industry's desire to establish a body that will strengthen media governance in Malaysia.
"This is the government's commitment to guaranteeing media freedom," he said when winding up the motion of thanks for the Royal Address for the ministry on Monday (Feb 24).
The Bill, tabled for first reading on Dec 12 last year, among other things was to establish a self-regulatory body to safeguard the interests of the media and media practitioners.
On a separate matter, Fahmi said 5,026 gambling websites were blocked with the cooperation of internet service providers from 2022 to Feb 1 this year and 224,403 gambling content on social media platforms was taken down during the same period.
"Of the total, the top three are on Facebook, which is 93.13%, Youtube 3.5% and Instagram 2.48%.
"The action to take down social media content and block these websites is based on MCMC's information on official applications from enforcement agencies as well as information and complaints from the public," he said.
According to Fahmi, during the same period, MCMC also blocked 316 websites with elements of prostitution while 2,315 content on various social media platforms was also taken down.
The minister said the highest content takedowns involved Facebook at 44.5%, TikTok (33.39%) and Telegram (20.13%). - Bernama
