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The mass media in Malaysia includes television, radio, newspapers, and web-based media such as bloggers. Many media outlets are either owned directly by the government of Malaysia (e.g. Bernama) or owned by component parties of the Barisan Nasional coalition which continuously form the government during Mahathir Mohamad's tenure until May 2018 (e.g. the Media Prima group, which is owned by the United Malays National Organisation). [1] Opposition parties during this era like the Islamic Party and People's Justice Party publish their own newspapers, Harakah and Suara Keadilan respectively, which are openly sold alongside regular publications.
Malay language newspapers in Malaysia are often noted by scholars for their lack of analytic critique towards government policies compared to their English counterparts as far back as 1970s; one Utusan Melayu executive even remarked that "it is not the newspapers' role to check on government. The papers here are...supporters of government". [2] Since conventional media is so tightly controlled by the government, Malaysia has a lively alternative media scene, characterised by such news portals as Malaysiakini and The Malaysian Insider which take advantage of the government's pledge not to censor the Internet despite its stranglehold on most mass media outlets. [3]
There are over 30 newspapers and tabloids published mainly in Malay, English, Chinese and Tamil. The most prominent newspapers include The Star , New Straits Times , theSun , Berita Harian , Utusan Malaysia , Malay Mail , Sin Chew Jit Poh and Nanyang Siang Pau .
State-owned RTM operates six free-to-air terrestrial local television channels licensed to broadcast in Malaysia, as well as 34 radio channels nationwide. Meanwhile, Media Prima is the parent company of four television channels and five radio channels.
Privately owned by Astro Malaysia Holdings, Astro is Malaysia's current only satellite television provider. There are 200 channels to choose from at a minimum amount of RM 49.95 per month and at a maximum amount of RM 200.00 per month. Astro had 20 radio channels, of which 17 are Astro-branded radio stations, of which nine of them are available via FM radio.
HyppTV by Unifi is one of Malaysia's IPTV provider but to take the TV package, the customer must select at least one internet package, from RM 149 per month to RM 350 per month.
TV Sarawak (TVS) opened in 2020 as Malaysia's first regional TV station (eponymously from Sarawak); albeit not the first in the Sarawak history as back in the April 1998, NTV7 was launched by Sarawakian businessman, Mohd Effendi Norwawi under the entity of Natseven TV Sdn Bhd, before acquired by Media Prima Berhad in 2005. With its own TV station, it will help to counter the problem of state's low priority and under coverage news by Peninsular-based media and increasing the power of East Malaysia representation.
The regulated freedom of the press has been criticised. Although critics concede that journalists "probably won't be hauled off and shot" for being critical of the government, it has been claimed that the government creates a chilling effect through threats of reduced employment opportunities and refusing journalists' family members "a place at one of the better public universities". Legislation such as the Printing Presses and Publications Act have also been cited as curtailing freedom of expression. [4]
In 2007, a government agency – the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission – issued a directive to all private television and radio stations to refrain from broadcasting speeches made by opposition leaders. [5] The move was condemned by politicians from the opposition Democratic Action Party. [6] The directive was later withdrawn by the Energy, Water and Communications Ministry. [7]
Malaysia was ranked 141 out of 178 countries in the Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders in 2010 and 122 out of 179 countries in 2012. [8] Malaysia was ranked 119 out of 179 countries in the Press Freedom Index in 2021. [9]
After the 2022 general election, Malaysia jumped 40 places in the World Press Freedom Index to 73rd place in 2023, up from its previous position of 113th in 2022. Meanwhile, the Minister of Communications and Digital, Fahmi Fadzil, announced that the ministry is studying the draft bill for the Malaysia Media Council before presenting it to the Cabinet. [10]
Because of troop sensitivities, newspapers from Singapore cannot be sold in Malaysia, hence The Straits Times and other Singapore titles are not sold in Malaysia, while the New Straits Times and other Malaysian titles are not sold in Singapore. The ban was imposed before the 1 May 1969 general election in Malaysia. [11] [12]
Malaysia authorities have arrested, detained and investigated numerous journalists, artists, people and/or groups both online and offline.
Between January 2020 and June 2022, the Malaysian government reported that they conducted 692 investigations under the Communications and Multimedia Act (CMA).
In February of 2022, Malaysian police detained activist Fahmi Reza for two days for his artwork on Twitter that satirised a government minister. On July 1, religious authorities and police members charged two people for insulting Islam during their comedy act under the CMA, resulting in local authorities requesting the closure of the comedy club. In October 2022, police detained political activist Jay Jay Denis over a tweet accusing a political leader of misconduct. [13]
PEN International officially denounced the increased use of Section 223 of the CMA to target writers and the general public for expressing their views online and in the press. Freedom of expression is pledged in Article 10 of the Federal Constitution, however Section 223(a) deems it an offence for any individual to use a platform to create, solicit or initiate communication seen as "obscene, indecent, false, menacing or offensive with the intent to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass another person". If charged, individuals can be fined up to RM50,000 or one years' imprisonment. [14]
Article 19, an organisation that calls for freedom of worldwide expression, conducted a legal analysis of the 1998 CMA in February of 2017. They concluded that the Act is overly broad, resulting in an increased amount of offences and lacks proper defence against censorship. They also deem the Act as unprotected of journalistic sources and anonymity. Article 19 calls for the Malaysian government to review the Act and amend it to fit with the standards of international freedoms of expression.
Mahathir bin Mohamad is a Malaysian politician, author, and physician who served as the fourth and seventh Prime Minister of Malaysia. He held office from 1981 to 2003 and later from 2018 to February 2020 for a cumulative total of 24 years, making him the country's longest-serving prime minister. Before becoming premier, he served as Deputy Prime Minister and in other cabinet positions. He was a Member of Parliament for Langkawi from 2018 to 2022, Kubang Pasu from 1974 to 2004, and Kota Star Selatan from 1964 to 1969. His political career spanned more than 75 years, from joining protests opposing citizenship policies for non-Malays in the Malayan Union in the 1940s to forming the Gerakan Tanah Air coalition in 2022.
The United Malays National Organisation ; abbreviated UMNO or less commonly PEKEMBAR, is a nationalist right-wing political party in Malaysia. As the oldest national political party within Malaysia, UMNO has been known as Malaysia's "Grand Old Party".
Said Zahari was a Singaporean writer and journalist. He was a former editor-in-chief of the Malay language newspaper Utusan Melayu, and an advocate of unbiased freedom of the press. Although he resided in Malaysia with his family, he insisted on retaining his Singapore citizenship.
Malaysian television broadcasting was introduced on 28 December 1963. Colour television was introduced on 28 December 1978. Full-time colour transmissions were officially inaugurated on New Year's Day 1982. There are currently 16 national free-to-air terrestrial television channels in Malaysia and 3 national pay subscription television operators in Malaysia.
Malaysiakini is an online news portal in Malaysia, established in 1999. It is published in Malay, English, Chinese and Tamil, and is among the most read news portals in Malaysia.
Radio Televisyen Malaysia, also known as the Department of Broadcasting, Malaysia is the national public broadcaster of Malaysia, headquartered at Angkasapuri, Kuala Lumpur. Established on 1 April 1946 as Radio Malaya, it is the first and the oldest broadcaster in the country.
Utusan Malaysia is a Malaysian Malay language daily newspaper headquartered outside Kuala Lumpur. Formerly owned by the Utusan Group, the newspaper is currently owned by Media Mulia.
Dato’ Seri Mohamed Nazri bin Abdul Aziz is a Malaysian politician and diplomat who has served as Malaysian Ambassador to the United States since February 2023. He served as the Minister of Tourism and Culture from May 2013 to May 2018, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department in charge of legal affairs from March 2004 to May 2013, Minister of Entrepreneur Development from December 1999 to March 2004, Deputy Minister of Finance I from November 1996 to December 1999, Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department from May 1995 to November 1996 and the Member of Parliament (MP) for Padang Rengas from March 2004 to November 2022.
The mass media in Brunei are strictly controlled by the government under Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, which has effectively imposed martial law in the country since the Brunei Revolt of 1962. News coverage consists of police-beat reporting, lifestyle features, and community events, with little in the way of diverse viewpoints. Reporters Without Borders reports there is "virtually no criticism of the government". The liberal democracy watchdog Freedom House lists Brunei's media as "not free".
The mass media in Singapore refers to mass communication methods through broadcasting, publishing, and the Internet available in the city-state. Singapore's media environment is a duopoly - it is dominated by two major players, Mediacorp and SPH Media.
The Sedition Act 1948 in Malaysia is a law prohibiting discourse deemed as seditious. The act was originally enacted by the colonial authorities of British Malaya in 1948 to contain the local communist insurgence. The act criminalises speech with "seditious tendency", including that which would "bring into hatred or contempt or to excite disaffection against" the government or engender "feelings of ill-will and hostility between different races". The meaning of "seditious tendency" is defined in section 3 of the Sedition Act 1948 and in substance it is similar to the English common law definition of sedition, with modifications to suit local circumstances. The Malaysian definition includes the questioning of certain portions of the Constitution of Malaysia, namely those pertaining to the Malaysian social contract, such as Article 153, which deals with special rights for the bumiputra.
Censorship is a long term issue in Malaysia which has become more apparent as it attempts to adapt to a modern knowledge-based economy. Despite having in its Federal Constitution that subject to certain conditions, "every citizen has the right to freedom of speech and expression", Malaysia has consistently sat low on global indexes related to press and media freedom.
Bernama TV is a Malaysian free-to-air news television network. Launched in 2008, it is owned by Bernama, a government news agency. It airs news programmes that are related to local and international business, lifestyle, sports and entertainment as well as in-house programmes.
TVS is a Malaysian linear digital television channel that provides news and programming from the region of Sarawak to the state and other parts of Malaysia.
Sarawak Report is an investigative journalism website focused on environmental and corruption issues in Malaysia. It has been largely self-published and operated from London since 2010 by Clare Rewcastle Brown. The blog had originally focused on the welfare of the indigenous people in Sarawak but eventually published original exposés on corruption scandals in wider Malaysia. In 2017, it gained wide recognition for its original and early exposure of the 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal, which had led the Najib Razak-led Malaysian government to block the website. The blog was openly critical of the Barisan Nasional-led state and federal governments of Sarawak and Malaysia, and supportive of the Pakatan Harapan opposition.
Free Malaysia Today (FMT) is an independent, bilingual news online portal with content, in both English and Bahasa Malaysia (Malay), with a focus on Malaysian current affairs, published since 2009. It is one of Malaysia's most accessed news sites with monthly visits of 11.83 million.
General elections were held in Malaysia on Wednesday, 9 May 2018. At stake were all 222 seats in the Dewan Rakyat, the lower house of parliament. The 13th Parliament was dissolved by Prime Minister Najib Razak on 7 April 2018. It would have been automatically dissolved on 24 June 2018, five years after the first meeting of the first session of the 13th Parliament of Malaysia on 24 June 2013.
The Ming Court Affair was a political coup in Sarawak, Malaysia that began in 1983, developed into a full-blown political crisis during 1987 state election, and ended after the Sarawak Malaysian People's Association (PERMAS) was dissolved in 1991. This political crisis mainly involved in the dispute between Abdul Rahman Ya'kub and his nephew Abdul Taib Mahmud over the control of the state government and Sarawak's natural resources.
The Malaysian United Indigenous Party, abbreviated BERSATU or PPBM, is a nationalist political party in Malaysia. The party was preceded by the United Indigenous Association of Malaysia. It is a major component party within the Perikatan Nasional coalition. BERSATU was approved and registered on 14 January 2017 by the Registrar of Societies (ROS) and the use of the BERSATU logo was authorized by the Malaysian Election Commission (SPR). The party held the Prime Ministerial position as well as the majority of positions in the cabinet from May 2020 to August 2021. The party's founding members came from the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) and Barisan Nasional rebel group Gabungan Ketua Cawangan Malaysia in 2016.
The 2020–2022 Malaysian political crisis was triggered after several Members of Parliament (MPs) of the 14th Malaysian Parliament changed party support, leading to the loss of a parliamentary majority, the collapse of two successive coalition governments, and the resignation of two Prime Ministers. The political crisis culminated in a 2022 snap general election and eventual formation of a coalition government.