Malaysian Media Council is finally here - but is it too late?
KUALA LUMPUR - After decades of discussion, the Malaysian Media Council (MMC) is finally a reality.
It promises to usher in a new era of transparency and accountability in the country's media landscape through self-regulation with little interference from the government. The newly established Malaysian Media Council (MMC) faces the challenge of adapting to a drastically changed media environment, where social media and AI now dominate news consumption, alongside the ongoing quest for ethical standards and press freedom. - Bernama file photo
But the establishment of the MMC in 2025 comes in an era where media and how the public consumes news have undergone drastic changes from when it was first mooted in 1973 by Tun Abdul Razak Hussein, Malaysia's second prime minister.
Which brings up the question: was it approved only to become obsolete?
Malaysians today scroll through TikTok and Instagram Reels more than they tune in to the nightly TV news broadcasts. Few read newspapers anymore. Advertisements, which used to be the news media's primary source of income, are now on web browsers and social media, and most people refuse to pay for news that is behind a paywall.
Content is produced and distributed by influencers, artificial intelligence (AI) and anonymous accounts, rather than credentialed reporters with their code of ethics and laws governing libel and slander.
LONG TIME COMING
The MMC has had a long gestation. Since 1973, the idea came and went multiple times but was never brought to fruition until now. The council was formally established following the passage of the Malaysian Media Council Bill 2024 by the Dewan Rakyat on Feb 26. The law was gazetted on June 13.
The Malaysian Media Council Act 2025 came into effect last Saturday (June 14), coinciding with this year's HAWANA (National Journalists Day) 2025 celebration here. Communications Minister Datuk Fahmi Fadzil, who was present at the HAWANA event, announced the names of the 12 founding board members of MMC.
According to the Act, the MMC will have a 21-member board comprising, among others, representatives from media companies, civil society and government agencies, as well as media practitioners. It is tasked with upholding ethical standards, resolving complaints and improving the welfare of media workers, including freelancers and digital journalists.
Media experts and interested parties have lauded the MMC as a positive move to safeguard the freedom of the press. The 2020 MMC pro tem report includes objectives such as "(promoting) the development of good journalism, while creating a recourse for public accountability, independent of the government of the day'.
It may also recommend reforms to laws such as the Printing Presses and Publications Act (PPPA) and the Official Secrets Act (OSA) as critics have cited these laws as obstacles to good investigative journalism in the country.
At the HAWANA forum last Saturday, members of the panel discussion on 'Malaysian Media Council: Regulator or Media Protector?' told the audience that the MMC would support the passage of new legislation, such as the Freedom of Information Act (FOI).
"We've called for a Freedom of Information Act so that journalists can petition the government to reveal information,' Premesh Chandran, former chairman of the MMC pro tem committee, told Bernama later.
Calls to reform or repeal laws such as PPPA and OSA have intensified alongside the MMC's launch. During the forum, Wathshlah G. Naidu, executive director of the Centre for Independent Journalism, said the original MMC pro tem committee had proposed repealing the PPPA but "those sections were the first to be negotiated out' of the final MMC Bill.
Currently, only Selangor and Penang have state-level FOI enactments, which are limited in reach. At the federal level, progress on the drafting of a FOI Act has been slow.
THE GROUND HAS SHIFTED
"You can see that as every new technology has appeared, media has shifted,' Premesh, who is also co-founder of 'Malaysiakini' and founding member of MMC, said at the HAWANA Forum. "So what's ahead? The new technology that's coming in today is AI. And that, again, is going to reconfigure the entire media space. And with that, also the business model of media.'
Indeed, AI and social media are already reshaping how Malaysians get their news. While legacy outlets still do the heavy lifting of original reporting, content often finds its audience through algorithmic recommendation, viral resharing or AI-driven summaries. The MMC has no jurisdiction over social media platforms as they come within the purview of the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC).
A recent study by the Reuters Institute found that social media and video platforms are the main source of news in the United States with more than half (54 percent) surveyed saying they get news from Facebook, X (formerly Twitter) and YouTube. TV news got 50 percent of respondents while news portals and apps got 48 percent.
The survey also found that seven percent of Americans, 12 percent under the age of 35, use AI platforms for news. Experts expect the number to grow in the years to come. While the HAWANA forum panelists stated their support for AI and their commitment to integrating it into the newsroom, the MMC has yet to articulate a strategy for engaging with them as a news source.
What they stressed was the importance of educating and creating awareness among the masses on the best way to consume media and how to discern misinformation from credible news.
Naidu pointed out during the same forum that building trust with the public was key.
"The MMC must not just be insular. It must build public trust and educate people to make informed choices - because the media alone can't compete with echo chambers and divisive content spreading through platforms.'
Monetisation remains the biggest challenge to producing good journalism, however.
Beyond ethics and regulation, the media industry is grappling with financial strain. Advertisement revenue has migrated to platforms like Google and TikTok. Local outlets face shrinking newsrooms, low pay and an exodus of talent to better-paying sectors. Some freelance journalists are forced to self-publish through Substack or TikTok just to stay visible.
While countries like Australia have introduced revenue-sharing laws for platforms that profit from journalistic content, Malaysia has not followed suit.
DEFINING JOURNALISM
A major challenge for the MMC will be defining who counts as a journalist and whether they fall under MMC's jurisdiction.
"Citizen journalists are not journalists,' said Prof Datuk Dr Ahmad Murad Merican, media scholar at the International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilisation at International Islamic University Malaysia.
'They are the many people who have phones and cameras who report only (the scene of a news incident). What verifies the news or gives credibility to the content is the reporter, the newsrooms, the news reporter, the news organisation, the media organisation.'
Still, others believe there must be room for freelancers and digital-first journalists - which include fresh graduates and trained professionals laid off by traditional media.
Premesh said anyone willing to follow the standards and code of conduct that the MMC would be setting, be they freelancers or legacy media, would be recognised as journalists.
He added the MMC could provide a form of voluntary certification for independent media outlets and freelance journalists who commit to its ethical guidelines. But, as Premesh noted, this requires public awareness and platform cooperation.
"How do we manage or improve distribution so people are aware that this is coming from a credited source versus an uncredited source. And that is definitely something that the media council can play a role in,' he said.
A GOOD START
All in all, the MMC is a positive move, even if the media landscape has changed from when Tun Razak first suggested it. Industry stakeholders across the board have welcomed the MMC as a critical step forward.
"Certainly, the HAWANA 2025 stage has become a historic moment for us, the media fraternity, to celebrate with smiles of joy as the dream of seeing this council finally becomes a reality,' said 'Utusan Borneo Sabah' editor-in-chief Datuk Lichong Angkui, as reported by Bernama.
He expressed hope that the council would not just be a regulator but a strong, independent protector of media freedom in Malaysia. Similar hopes were echoed by Tawau Journalists and Media Practitioners Association (Pewarta) deputy chairman Tamrin Jamil, who called the MMC "a crucial support system' and a sign of the government's commitment to institutional reform.
But hopes must now be matched with action to address the impact of emerging technologies, including digital media and Generative AI, and develop guidelines for Malaysian media practitioners.
In short, the MMC's potential is undeniable - it can build trust, protect journalists and create a unified ethical baseline in a fragmented industry, including finding a way to monetise content for traditional media, accrediting not just legacy outlets but credible independent voices, collaborating across regulatory bodies and with civil society watchdogs, and actively educating the public about how to distinguish journalism from 'noise'.
"The day the media council is born, our problems are not going to be solved,' said Premesh. "Right? Nothing was built in a day. It's how we use the opportunity provided to create what we want (in order) to get there.' - BERNAMA
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