The Centre for Independent Journalism has condemned Malaysia for its plans to review Al Jazeera鈥檚 media accreditation and license after the media company published a documentary on migrant workers under lockdown in Malaysia due to COVID-19.聽
The Locked Up in Malaysia鈥檚 Lockdown documentary had depicted how migrant workers in Malaysia were treated during the outbreak. Most of them were under lockdown in Malaysia鈥檚 emergency zones, where dozens of COVID-19 cases were reported.聽
The documentary published three weeks ago sparked backlash from the Malaysian government, who accused it of spreading misinformation.聽
The Communications and Multimedia Ministry said yesterday it wouldwhether the 26-minute documentary was licensed by the National Film Development (FINAS) before it began production, or risk having their accreditation revoked.聽
The journalism center, or CIJ, said that the ministry was in Malaysia and should have simply clarified the inaccuracies it alleged the documentary had contained.聽
Labeling the documentary as 鈥渕isleading鈥 was counterproductive and irresponsible, it added.聽
鈥淭he onus is on the government to list down all facts stated in the documentary that they disagree with and to counter it with information, reliable and verifiable data and statistics,鈥 CIJ executive director, Wathshlah G. Naidu, said in a statement.
The documentary had been on the receiving end of backlash by politicians and regular Malaysians since it was published, with many claiming that the Qatari media company had failed to provide an accurate reflection of the nation鈥檚 COVID-19 efforts.
“For Finas it is simple, that is, whether you have a licence or not. It’s ok if there is a license but if there is no license, it is then considered an offense,鈥 Minister Saifuddin Abdullah told reporters yesterday.
“With the revocation of accreditation facilities, its (Al Jazeera’s) crew are not free to go anywhere without the (media) cards issued by the Information Department,鈥 he added.
Other stories to check out:
Malaysia鈥檚 keyboard warriors in online war with Al Jazeera over COVID-19 documentary
Hannah Yeoh under probe again over 鈥榮editious鈥 child marriage statement she said she didn鈥檛 write
