Media Freedom Comes With Responsibility – PM

KUALA LUMPUR: With the thriving freedom of speech, it is part of the responsibility of the media to counter false and fake news, says Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

“With freedom comes responsibility, and part of that responsibility is the need to counter what has become a plague, a plague of false and fake news,” he said in his speech at the Wan-Ifra16th Asian Media Awards on Wednesday night.

He said the country was not immune to the problem and it was unfortunate that some people fell for fake news spread by the Government’s opponents.

Najib also noted that a free press was a guarantee of accountability and transparency.

“It should also be a guarantor that the small voice of the truth is heard amid the maelstrom of both information and misinformation that new technologies have unleashed,” he said.

He said the Government has opened up the space for the media.

“Look at our press. You will find criticism of the Government, of our ministers, of our officials, in our newspapers every day.

“Sometimes it is former ministers – or even a former prime minister – criticising certain Opposition parties for not being critical enough; when those individuals used to criticise those same parties for criticising the Government when they were in power,” said Najib.

He added that it was the duty of publishers, editors, reporters and designers to maintain the trust of readers.

“The Government will be on your side. All we ask in return is the opportunity to remind you to rely in your reporting and sourcing, in whichever country that may be – not on rumours, not on unsourced anonymous quotes, and not on invented propaganda, no matter now persuasively it may be presented – but on verified facts,” he said.

-BERNAMA-

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