Media freedom group calls for protection of media workers' rights

The Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) Malaysia commemorated and celebrated World Press Freedom Day (WPFD) 2026 on 3 May.

The Malaysian media have come a long way serving as the country’s fourth estate, experiencing the same growing pains alongside Malaysia’s democracy.

The passing of the Media Council Act in 2025 and the long-anticipated bill on freedom of information, expected to be tabled soon, marks a welcome progression in enabling press freedom. We therefore hope to see the continued strengthening of independent media and a self-regulated media ecosystem.

However, the CIJ notes with concern Malaysia’s recent drop in its score in the recent World Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders from 88th place to 95th place globally. The fallen overall score (from 56.09 to 52.73) shows a concerning deterioration in the quality of media freedom locally, even amid the overall worsening of press freedom globally.

The Malaysian media ecosystem remains fraught with pressures from various forces. Restrictive laws such as the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, the Sedition Act 1948, various sections of the Penal Code, and the Official Secrets Act 1972 are increasingly and consistently weaponised to silence the media.

Moreover, the CIJ notes the return of the use of the Printing Presses and Publications Act to crack down on the media, a trend not seen in recent years.

Recently, Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil said that the media “should be given full space to perform their duties” after an incident where three journalists from a Chinese-language paper were instructed by the police to delete photos and videos taken while covering a riot at a karaoke centre.

However, this principle is often difficult to translate into practice when the authorities regularly censor the media and bypass the Malaysian Media Council by initiating direct action against media organisations and journalists.

We have observed the repeated censorship of media coverage on public interest issues recently, such as the investigation of Malaysiakini journalist B Nantha Kumar and the lawsuits launched against media organisations covering alleged corruption.

If this pattern of censorship and weaponising draconian laws to threaten media freedom persists, not only will it derail any trust in public interest reporting but it would also make the media council, as a multistakeholder self-regulatory body, redundant.

We also note the significant impact the deteriorating economic environment has on media workers’ labour rights. On 10 May, CIJ launched its annual Media Landscape Report and study of the overall media ecosystem through the lens of the backbone of the media: journalists working on the ground.

Media workers suffer from consistent economic pressures and sustainability challenges in the form of low wages, severe job insecurity, intimidation and harassment both within newsrooms and out in the field, as well as unsustainably high-pressure working environments.

The ecosystem is increasingly overtaken by digital transformation in the form of artificial intelligence (AI) adaptation, increasing proliferation of disinformation and erosion of trust in legitimate journalism, changing consumer patterns and behaviours, and political interference and manipulation of divisive narratives such as on the “three Rs” (race, religion and royalty).

This inevitably affects the larger media ecosystem, and journalism therefore suffers from a decline in the quality of its reporting, as well as a loss in the number of journalists committed to the cause of media freedom.

In the light of these issues, CIJ, together with the Malaysian Media Council (MMC) and Gerakan Media Merdeka (GeramM) hosted a Media Solidarity Festival on 10 May.

Aside from the launch of CIJ’s Media Landscape Report, this public event served as a call for all stakeholders to band together to support the rights of journalists and push for a free, independent media. This event also provided a platform for civil society and the media to connect over their work on public interest issues. Other activities included panel sessions featuring the media council board and environmental journalists covering issues locally and in Indonesia.

The event hosted an art exhibition by The Artivist Network, featuring community media covering environmental issues. Booths featuring journalists and civil society also ran concurrently throughout the event.

Despite the many challenges the Malaysian media faces, the CIJ remains hopeful for the future of Malaysian media. – CIJ

Wathshlah G Naidu is the executive director of the Centre for Independent Journalism.