The Malaysia Academic Movement (Gerak) has called for the Statutory Bodies (Discipline and Surcharge) Act 2000 (Act 605) to exempt academia in order to safeguard academic freedom and prevent further incidents of censorship in public universities.

This comes after Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) issued a circular on Oct 8 prohibiting its staff from making unauthorised public statements.

The memo was quickly retracted following public outrage and criticism...