The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission has been tasked to scrutinise a news report by a local television channel that claimed that the number of civil servants in the government will be reduced
Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil said the result of an initial evaluation of the matter found that the station which airs on myFreeview had on several occasions produced news items that are seen as not complying with some rules and laws.
The Minister said he has handed the matter over to the MCMC and relevant authorities if they wished to investigate the parties involved based on the existing provisions of the law. However, to me, what is important is the difference between publishing news and slander… the right of the media to freely carry out its duty exists and we defend it. But that doesn’t mean they have the right to publish items that are not true or slanderous.
Fahmi had tweeted that the government vehemently denied allegations contained in Awesome TV’s news programme Berita 757 that there are ‘observers’ who have proposed that the number of civil servants is reduced.
He also urged Berita 757 to explain the idea and proposal, which he described as “ridiculous”.
As such, he reminded all parties to be cautious in publishing news items, not to just report news, so that they are not defamatory and violate existing laws.
