Resident Coordinator's speech: World Press Freedom Day Virtual Forum 2022

YB Tan Sri Datuk Seri Panglima Haji Annuar Haji Musa, Minister of Communications and Multimedia

YB Dato Sri Dr. Hj. Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Parliament and Law)

H.E Aart Jacobi, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Malaysia

Ms. Wathshlah G. Naidu, Executive Director, Centre for Independent Journalism

Distinguished speakers, and participants.

A very good morning and Selamat Pagi to you all.

It is a genuine honour for me to deliver these welcoming remarks to Malaysia’s World Press Freedom Day Virtual Forum for 2022, organized jointly with the Embassy of the Netherlands. Thank you, your Excellency, for the continued partnership.

Every year since 1993, the UN has celebrated World Press Freedom Day on 3rd May to recognize and promote the fundamental principles set out in the Windhoek Declaration.

We take this annual opportunity to defend the media from attacks on their independence and pay tribute to the bravery of journalists in exercise of their profession.

National gatherings like today’s event are convened specifically to highlight the vital role of a domestic free press in delivering transparency and holding those in power to account.

This role in sacrosanct in a vibrant multi-party modern democracy like Malaysia is today.

While there can be no doubt that we live in interesting times, we also live in challenging ones. Threats to press freedom continue to emerge from a variety of sources, and the resilience of the press will likely come under pressure as Malaysia moves closer to national elections.

We need also to recognize that as in many countries, the full realization of press freedoms in Malaysia remains a work in progress.

I want, therefore, to commend the Prime Minister of Malaysia, YAB Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s announcement during last week’s National Journalists’ Day that the Government would never interfere with the media in executing their duties.

In the light of this statement, and adoption by media organizations of the Melaka Declaration 2022 on preserving and elevating the dignity of journalism, the UN urges Government to continue to review the legal and regulatory environment to ensure the right to information.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I now come to the global theme of World Press Freedom Day – that of Journalism under digital siege, and specifically, the impacts of the digital era on freedom of expression, access to accurate information, surveillance, and personal privacy.

The global advance of digital platforms and communications has impacted each and every facet of our lives.

This has brought many benefits, but also severe challenges.

We, as global netizens, now have access to an unprecedented volume of information in real time, from every corner of the globe, and from multiple sources.

As UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, has noted, digital technology has democratized access to information and empowered all manner of previously excluded groups. Yet, problematically, as he also notes, it has brought forth a host of challenges.

Chief among these are a growing lack of reliability and accuracy, and inevitably, a decline in evidence-based reporting, which has led to an epidemic of bias and in some cases, hate speech.

In turn, these have fed widespread skepticism and mistrust in all types of media.

These developments have been characterized as a digital siege faced by journalism today.

Misinformation in the digital space reached a peak during the COVID-19 pandemic. The drip-feed of fake news and false narratives drove mass fears and misperceptions, it compromised essential public health messages, and led to scapegoating and the stigmatization of marginal and excluded groups.

For example, we all witnessed the blaming of migrant and undocumented populations for the spread of infections.

Digital technology is also susceptible to manipulation by political and vested interests, including external powers.

It has, in some circumstances, facilitated rather than curbed censorship. In extremis, it has unfairly swayed public opinion and enabled the creation of new channels for oppression and abuse.

While many commentators, at the dawn of the digital age, foretold the death of traditional media, professional journalism has increasingly become a bulwark against these troubling developments.

In the post-internet era, the formal media’s role as a check and balance in democratic society has never been more important.

Accountability and professionalism are key.

Mainstream outlets, bound by codes of conduct and a commitment to evidential sourcing, are playing a dual role of reporting without fear or favour, and in dispelling a potential torrent of disinformation.

Regulatory responses to tackling menace of misinformation are highly challenging, and open to claims of manipulation and censorship.

Nevertheless, in addition to supporting a free and accountable media, the UN recognizes that there is some role for regulation and stakeholder engagement to combat the nefarious use of the digital space.

Yet, regulatory powers must be exercised sensitively, and with due regard to the proper exercise of freedom of expression.

Distinguished audience,

I want to make clear the direct connections between press freedom and the realization of human rights and Malaysia’s wider development objectives, and more specifically the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.

A free media is both an enabling agent for the entire development framework, and explicitly recognized in Goal 16, Target 16.10. to ensure public access to information and protect fundamental freedoms.

As a primary provider of reliable information, and for all its weaknesses, a free, independent and pluralist press provides the public with vital knowledge.

It contributes to education, enables discussion of controversial issues, gives voice to the powerless, and promotes the resolution of tensions via constructive dialogue. It also has the potential of rooting out racism and xenophobia.

Therefore, a free but also responsible and accountable media, that harnesses digital platforms, can help drive efficient and inclusive development, precisely by facilitating a more vibrant democracy.

Reporting on issues such as the environment, corruption, and those left behind, makes government and other actors more responsive and accountable.

This would be further complemented by the adoption of Freedom of Information legislation.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Allow me to end by reiterating that while digitalization provides many pathways to reimagine the media landscape, there are genuine challenges to be addressed.

The key remains the maintenance of a free but accountable and professional press, alongside smart regulation that effectively combats egregious misinformation.

On a very final note, I want on behalf the United Nations in Malaysia to express our recognition to journalists in and around Malaysia for the contribution you make.

This includes those here today as speakers, those attending online, and those currently out there searching for the truth.

Thank you.