When the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government came into power in February last year, its new Communications and Multimedia Minister Saifuddin Abdullah had expressed the government's commitment to upholding press freedom.

However, within 14 months, multiple probes against media outlets as well as the 2021 World Press Freedom Index in which Malaysia fell by 18 spots to number 119 have indicated that the country has a long way to go when it comes to press freedom.

Amid the ongoing battle against the pandemic, and the media’s relentless effort to keep the readers well-informed, outlets not considered “official media” were also not allowed to cover certain pertinent press conferences and events.

Unfortunately, such incidents are not new to Malaysia...