YOURSAY | ‘Selective mutism only benefits the strong elites.’

Journalists march to Parliament to protest proposed PPPA changes

Malaysiakini goes black and white for media freedom

Vijay47: Going black and white may be only a symbolic protest. Nevertheless, it is a protest that has to be made, considering the kind of government Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has unleashed on us.

There was an earlier report on Malaysiakini where Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail informed us that his ministry “has deferred plans to table proposed amendments to the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 pending consultations with all stakeholders”.

Promising as this might seem to be, there are two conclusions to be drawn and kept in mind. The proposed amendments have only been deferred, they have not been dropped.

Secondly, we are aware that the Madani government simply cannot be trusted, not with its record of failing to honour any of its many pledges even from day one.

Fresh amendments will likely befall us, one made tighter and more formidable.

Go ahead with the black and white protest, Malaysiakini and the others, for as long as Anwar’s record is red.

Cogito Ergo Sum: This move is to target Malaysiakini in particular and other online media.

MPs must vote with their conscience and not along party lines on these amendments.

Will the DAP sign this death knell for freedom of the press? If they do, they are signing their very existence away.

They will be deconstructed worse than Umno in the next general election.

These amendments have Umno’s fingerprints all over the place.

It is not without reason that the people strongly suspect that Umno, with the least number of MPs, is the puppet master pulling Anwar and the cabinet’s strings.

How did the people, who rejected Umno, end up with that party still wrecking and ruining Malaysia?

If these amendments are passed, it means no more investigative journalism and exposés of corruption.

Libra: This is going to be difficult for you Malaysiakini. If you want the truth to be told, say it loudly without fear.

In this age of misinformation and disinformation, even leaders of other countries are known to practise stifling free speech.

What else can the public do? The media has the solemn duty to perform the right thing.

Outlier: Shame on PKR and DAP, who were supposed to bring about positive media reform.

This reform is nothing but a legalised Act to muzzle, harass, intimidate and prosecute free speech.

I am all for clamping down on misinformation and fake news, particularly those about race and religious sensitivities, but this Act is too broad and all-encompassing.

When Pakatan Harapan becomes the likely opposition again after the next general election, let’s see how they feel when this Act is used against them.

UB40: This Madani government is the same as the former BN government. Anwar, you have betrayed the trust that you want to make reforms but regret not doing anything, instead enhancing these Acts to be more stringent.

DAP, why are your MPs silent?

Before becoming part of the Harapan government, DAP advocated truth and justice and wanted to repeal all the draconian laws.

However once they became part of the government, all this rhetoric was muted.

MS: That the Madani regime, which came to power on the backs of truth-telling media organisations like Malaysiakini, has stooped this low to do what neither former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad nor Muhyiddin Yassin even contemplated doing, should surprise no one.

The move mirrors the mindset of Anwar, who has long specialised in the oily art of deception and betrayal.

From the very outset, in 1998, it has always been about him. Keadilan was for him and him alone.

What is right today is what is good for him. If it is good for him, it must be good for everyone else.

In any case, while his ill-deserved "reformist" reputation lies in tatters, the collateral damage to the DAP will be such that both Umno and PAS will forever be grateful to PKR for doing what they only dreamed of doing - diminishing if not annihilating it from the face of local politics.

Very concerned citizen: We believed in Anwar and voted him into power in the last general election.

He made us all believe that he would reform many things in this country.

We were taken for fools because we believed him. Look where he is taking us now.

As they say, “A leopard will not change the colour of his skin”. So we are looking at his Muslim Youth Movement (Abim) days now.

DAP, the party who promised us so much, is now putting its tail between its legs. Shame on you DAP!

Former DAP leaders Lim Kit Siang or the late Karpal Singh would never commit such a betrayal. So who do we have to vote for in the next general election who will not betray us?

Prominority: Press freedom makes people aware of many wrongdoings in the country.

This land is mine: We do not have a free country if there is no media freedom.

Selective mutism only benefits the strong elites.

It is like a house where there is so much restriction to talk, the members of the household are like walking corpses.

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