Printing and Presses Act

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Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 is a piece of legislation that requires all print media in Malaysia to obtain a licence and abide by its strict regulations. The license or permit must be renew annually in order to publish in Malaysia.

This piece of legislation is enforced by the Malaysian Ministry of Home Affairs. The powers are vested in the Home Affairs Minister who can grant or deny any permit. The minister can also restrict or ban outright publications that is likely to endanger national security interest or create social unrest.

The Constitution of Malaysia do allow freedom of speech and for the press as well. However, there is a very crucial limitation. The Constitution provides that freedom of speech may be restricted by legislation "in the interest of security (or) public order. [1]

Hence this means the government can enact legislation to determine the way information is disseminated by the mass media industry if the government feels that the national interest has been threatened.

1 History
2 Controversy
3 References
4 External links

[edit] History

The act comes from Printing Ordinance of 1948, introduced by the British Colonial government. It was revised in 1971 and later 1984.

[edit] Controversy

There has been quite a debate on the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 in Malaysia. Although the law was meant to maintain genuine news stories, create a regulated press sector, provide legal guidelines to reporters, Some say that the legislation is restricting political discourse, silencing political opponents and manipulating the news delivered to consumers. CIJ Malaysia

As blogs and other online resources became more popular among Malaysians, the government is looking at expanding the act to include electronic media and Internet media. The Star SEAPA. However, the statement was retracted several days later, as electronic media are considered to be under the Multimedia Commission. However, the act itself might be updated as studies on its relevance would be carried out. Bernama Sun2Surf