COMMENT | The single most insidious thing that has inhibited the media’s ability to report freely, fairly, and responsibly in Malaysia is licensing because it gives authorities the power to extinguish media organisations literally at the stroke of a pen, with no recourse.

That is why any move, such as a recent proposal from Putrajaya to licence online news portals should be opposed vigorously. This is not about platforms such as Facebook and Twitter but news portals such as Malaysiakini, Free Malaysia Today, Malay Mail, etc, and countless blogs.

Broken promise

That such a move is even being considered indicates extreme elements within the federal coalition government are getting stronger by the day, a dangerous threat to press freedom. It is also the breaking of a key promise by Pakatan Harapan to unshackle the press.

We all know how the mainstream media, which began with print, are sycophantic, pandering to the government of the day with writing not worth the paper that it is printed on and gushing about the achievements of the government of the day repeatedly. Just open the pages to satisfy yourself that it continues unabated.