Media that publishes misleading reports on people’s issues may face regulatory action by the Media Council which to be set up soon, Deputy Communications and Multimedia Minister Eddin Syazlee Shith said.

He said in certain cases, action could also be taken under the Sedition Act 1948, the Official Secrets Act 1972, the Printing Presses and Publication Act 1984, the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 and the Copyright Act 1987.

“The ministry, through the Information Department, is also enforcing the regulation for media identification through the issuance of the Media Accreditation Card, which must be presented to cover official events and programmes.

“Through the enforcement of the Media Accreditation Card, it can ensure that statements from the government will be reported and disseminated correctly and accurately to the people.

“From early 2018 until today, a total of 4,419 Media Accreditation Cards have been issued,” he said in reply to Zahidi Zainul Abidin (BN-Padang Besar) at the Dewan Rakyat sitting in Kuala Lumpur today.

Zahidi had wanted to know the actions taken by the ministry to tackle issues of misleading reports by the media.

Eddin Syazlee also called on all media practitioners to observe their code of ethics based on the principles of Rukun Negara to curb the dissemination of false and misleading information.

“The journalism ethics, if observed, will be able to improve their level of professionalism and prevent the media from publishing a misleading report from statements issued by the government or ministers,” he added.

- Bernama