KUALA LUMPUR: In stark contrast to his boss' statement recently, Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin reminded the Malaysian media that it was not free to do as it pleases.
"Press freedom is not a blank cheque to do whatever we want," he said at the International Forum on “The Creation of Global Citizen: Media Liberalisation and Political Realities” at the Putra World Trade Centre today.
Muhyiddin also warned that the freedom enjoyed by the media needed to be used responsibly.
"The media in this country understands what constitutes fair, free and responsible press... (but) we have to be cautious of what it can do as a communications tool," he said.
Muhyiddin added that it was in Malaysia's best interests to liberalise its media and to increase global awareness. He did not say how the government was going to do this.
Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak had recently said that there was a need for a free media, and that it should report without fear or favour.
Contrary to Najib's views, the government appears to have adopted a hard stance against various local politically-themed media outfits in recent days.
Online portals not spared
In September, cartoonist Zulkiflee Anwar Ulhaque (better known as Zunar) was arrested under the Sedition Act for publishing his latest book, Cartoon-o-Phobia.
Zunar, whose work has been critical of government administration as well as of Najib, has seen three of his previous works banned by the Home Ministry.
Online portals and social media outfits were not spared from the government's far-reaching hands.
Local blogger Ahiruddin Attan was recently questioned by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) after Information, Communications and Culture Minister Rais Yatim lodged a police report against him.
Attan, or popularly known as Rocky Bru, had allegedly posted a rumour that a minister's son stood to gain from a RM1 billion project organised by Rais' ministry.
According to the Press Freedom Index compiled by international media organisation, Reporters Without Borders, Malaysia stands at 131 out of 175 countries.
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