The Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (BERSIH) responds to Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil who singled out BERSIH for absence at a stakeholder engagement held by the ministry on 15 July 2024. For the record, BERSIH is a coalition of 70 NGOs; while the BERSIH leadership were in a solidarity walk with Teoh Beng Hock’s family on the day of the meeting, our member partners such as the Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) attended the session and provided extensive input and recommendations for:

1) Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to consider alternative models to regulate scams, cyberbulling, etc instead of social media licensing. There are policies to be studied from elsewhere, such as Australia where efforts are made to compel banks to be responsible, including reimburse scam victims.

2) More in-depth negotiation or consultation especially with CSOs to be held, particularly in drafting the Code of Conduct for Social Media. CIJ has also suggested that a committee be formed with CSOs, other experts, and representatives of social media companies to study the Code of Conduct so as to avoid a ‘top down approach’ that ultimately fails in implementation.

We are disappointed that the minister’s office has chosen to distract from this pertinent matter by ridiculing and discrediting the many NGOs and even government institutions that did not attend their engagement – the first time a ministry has done this in our years of engagement with any government. We seek the professionalism and competence of the minister and his office to enhance engagement efforts by including many other stakeholders outside the invited list who have a stake in this issue and the right to question the government’s position.

We remind the minister that Malaysia made worldwide news when the popular blogging website Medium.com was blocked in the country in 2016 due to a perceived “politically controversial” article published by the Sarawak Report. The article allegedly exposed corruption, prompting the MCMC to issue a takedown notice to Medium. What are the safeguards under this new licensing proposition that can guarantee the prevention of a similar course of action under the watch of the minister or his office? We are concerned for the further erosion of our already precarious state of freedom of expression. We also remind the government that Malaysia’s ranking dropped 34 places in the latest press freedom index. Regulation overreach on social media could possibly worsen our ranking.

The Unity Government has not displayed any conviction or commitment to repealing or even amending the Sedition Act, the Printing Presses and Publication Act, and the MCMC Act — instead, the administration seems more keen to introduce legislation that further regulates speech and expression. Citizens are rightfully alarmed in our view – and we have not forgotten manifesto promises to repeal such regressive laws.

Quoting the minister: “Banyak komen daripada mereka tapi apabila dijemput untuk berikan pandangan dan bertanyakan soalan, kelibat mereka langsung tidak kelihatan,” we hereby invite the minister to a public forum organized by BERSIH to open the space to the rakyat and discuss the matter publicly, critically, and professionally. We look forward to hearing what dates work for the minister.

Released by:
The Steering Committee of BERSIH