MALAYSIAN MEDIA COUNCIL ACT 2025

This Act comes into operation on a date to be appointed by the Minister by notification in the Gazette.

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Interpretation

news agency, which is a news organization incorporated under any Malaysian law for the purpose of collecting, verifying, and disseminating news, information, images, and videos;

newspaper organization, which is a news organization that publishes printed or digital reading materials on a daily or periodic basis;

broadcaster, which is a radio or television station that broadcasts for public listening or viewing, including materials available in digital format via the internet;

media practitioner;

independent media practitioner;

foreign media, which is a media company owned or controlled by foreign media organizations, who has media practitioners in Malaysia and publish news and journalism content in Malaysia or particularly about Malaysia;

media publisher;

media company; and

media association, but does not include the advertising industry, online service providers and entities that aggregate or develop news from other sources;

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“journalism” means the practice of collecting, organizing, analysing and conveying information or news to the public done by journalists, bloggers, analysts or any person involved in publishing and shared whether in printed or digital form through any medium of publication, radio and television broadcasts, or digital media;

“Board” means the Board of Malaysian Media Council established under section 8 of this Act;

“Council” means the Malaysian Media Council established under section 3 of this Act;

“Minister” means the Minister charged with the responsibility for communications;

“media publisher” means an individual who is responsible for overseeing the publication or broadcasting of news content in print, online and broadcast media, in preparation of final published edition to the public;

“media practitioner” means a journalist, editor, photographer, videographer and graphic designer or any person involved in the creation, production and dissemination of content for a media company and such person shall be an employee of a media publisher;

“independent media practitioner” means a person producing news content for a media company but is not an employee or a person publishing news content and commentaries which are hosted on online media;

“Chairman” means the Chairman of the Board and the Council appointed under section 9 of this Act;

“media association” means any non-profit entity, trade union or association consist of media practitioners representing the interests and welfare of the media parties;

“media company” means an organization or business entity that creates, produces, distributes and manages media content in printed, broadcast or digital form, and shall have not less than ten media practitioners as employees of that media company.

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The Council shall have perpetual succession and a common seal.

The Council may sue and be sued in its corporate name.

Subject to and for the purposes of this Act, the Council may, upon such terms as it deems fit—

Until a common seal is provided by the Council, a stamp bearing the words “Malaysian Media Council” may be used and shall be deemed to be the common seal of the Council.

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The common seal of the Council shall be kept in the custody of the Chairman or such other person as may be authorized by the Board, and shall be authenticated by the Chairman or by any two members of the Board as authorized by the Chairman in writing.

All deeds, documents and other instruments purporting to be sealed with the common seal of the Council and authenticated in accordance with subsection (3) shall, until the contrary is proved, be deemed to have been validly executed.

Any deed, document and other instrument which, if executed by a person not being a body corporate, is not required to be under seal may in like manner be executed by a member of the Board or employee of the Council as authorized in that behalf.

The common seal of the Council shall be officially and judicially noticed.

Functions of Council

to set standards and establish a code of conduct for media practitioner and independent media practitioner in accordance with the standards of ethical and responsible journalism;

to promote the highest standards of ethical and responsible journalism, media independence and the rights of media practitioner;

to regulate the ethics and professional code of conduct of the media practitioner and independent media practitioner;

to encourage communication between media practitioners, the Government and the public;

to suggest any reforms to laws relating to media independence;

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to facilitate and coordinate matters in respect of training, capacity building and professional development of journalists and media organizations among members of the Council;

to establish, manage and maintain a database which contains information of media practitioners and independent media practitioners for the purpose of collecting data and statistics, for the continued development of media industry and journalism;

to determine any grievance mechanism and disciplinary proceeding against member of the Council; and

to do such other things arising out of or consequential to the functions of the Council under this Act which are consistent with the purposes of this Act.

The functions of the Council under subsection (1) shall be performed by the Board subject to a resolution passed from time to time by the Council in the general meeting.

Powers of Council

Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), the Council may—

Powers of the Council under paragraphs (2)(a), (b), (c)

and (d) shall be exercised by the Board subject to a resolution passed from time to time by the Council in the general meeting.

Membership of Council

a category consisting of media company, represented by their respective media publisher or nominated senior management;

a category consisting of media association, represented by any nominated member of the association, media practitioner and independent media practitioner; and

a category consisting of non-media member.

Each application for membership of the Council shall be made to the Board together with the payment of fees as the

Council may determine under paragraph 6(2)(c).

Membership of the Council shall be renewable every year together with the payment of fees as the Council may determine under paragraph 6(2)(c).

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the Chairman;

two members to be nominated by the Minister, representing the Government;

four members of the Board representing members of the Council in the category as specified under paragraph 7(1)(a), which shall be nominated and elected by the members of the Council in such category, and shall comprise of, at least one woman representative and one representative from Sabah or Sarawak;

four members of the Board representing members of the Council in the category as specified under paragraph 7(1)(b), which shall be nominated and elected by the members of the Council in such category, with at least one member from a media association, and shall comprise of, at least one woman representative and one representative from Sabah or Sarawak;

four members of the Board representing members of the Council in the category as specified under paragraph 7(1)(c), which shall be nominated and elected by the members of the Council in such category, and shall comprise of, at least one woman representative and one representative from Sabah or Sarawak; and

six additional members of the Board appointed, among the members of the Council, by the Board members stated in paragraphs (c), (d) and (e) to ensure equal representation from the aspect of gender, locality and diversity of media by the languages and the formats.

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A media company which is deemed to have a common ownership with other media companies shall not have more than one member of the Board nominated and elected under paragraph (1)(c).

For the purposes of subsection (2), a media company is deemed to have a common ownership with other media companies in the case where—

The nomination and election of the members of the Board under paragraphs (1)(c), (d) and (e) shall be conducted in the general meeting.

Notwithstanding subsections (1) and (4), the Minister shall appoint the members of the Board that shall act as the founding

Board, by notification published in the Gazette.

The provisions in the First Schedule shall apply to the Board.

Chairman

Any member of the legislature, or any person who is actively involved in politics or registered with any political party, or any member of the public services, shall not be appointed as the Chairman.

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The Chairman shall be deemed to be a member of the Council, and shall have a casting vote in all deliberations of the Board and the Council.

A Deputy Chairman shall be elected by the members of the Board from among themselves.

Where the Chairman is unable to perform his functions for any reason, or during any period of vacancy in the office of the

Chairman, the Deputy Chairman shall perform the functions of the Chairman.

Tenure of office

Where a member of the Board receives a note of censure or his membership is terminated, he shall cease to be a member of the Board under this Act.

A member of the Board shall be deemed to have vacated his office if he absents himself from three consecutive meetings of the Board without leave of the Board.

The Chairman may resign from office by giving notice in writing to the Board, and other members of the Board may resign from office by giving notice in writing to the Chairman, and upon such resignation being accepted by the Board or the Chairman, as the case may be, the Chairman or such member shall be deemed to have vacated his office.

Any vacancy of members of the Board shall be filled, as soon as may be, by nomination in the same manner such member of the Board who vacated the office was nominated and elected and such member so nominated and subsequently elected, shall hold office such for the remaining tenure of the preceding member of the Board.

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Subject to subsection (1), any member of the Board who has held office for a period of four years consecutively, is eligible to be re-elected after a period of two years lapsed from the last date such member of the Board had held office as the member of the Board.

Remuneration and allowances

All members of the Board shall be paid such allowances at such rates as the Council may determine in the general meeting.

Secretary of Council

The Council shall vest in the Secretary such powers and impose upon him such duties as the Board may determine.

The Secretary shall act under the general authority and directions of the Board which shall be consistent with this Act.

The Secretary shall—

The Secretary shall perform his duties with reasonable care, skill, diligence, and make proper judgment in performing his duties under this Act.

The Secretary may establish a central and regional offices or branch offices as he may deem necessary and expedient, subject to the approval of the Board.

Employees of Council

An employee of the Council shall, at all times, act in good faith and comply with any requirements, standards, duties and code of conduct as the Board may determine.

Committees

The Board may elect any member of the Council to be the chairperson of a committee.

The Board may appoint any person to be a member of any committee established under subsection (1).

A member of a committee shall hold office for such term as the Board may specify in his letter of appointment and is eligible for reappointment.

A member of a committee may, at any time, resign his office by giving a notice in writing to the Board.

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Any committee established under subsection (1) shall be subject to and act in accordance with any direction issued to the committee from time to time by the Board and the Board may, at any time, discontinue or alter the composition of or dissolve the committee.

The committee may invite any person to attend any meeting of the committee to advise the committee on any matter under discussion but that person shall not be entitled to vote at the meeting.

The committee shall meet as often as may be necessary at the time and place as the chairperson of the committee may determine.

A committee shall cause—

A committee may determine its own procedure and shall make the reporting to the Board accordingly.

A member of the committee and any person invited under subsection (7) shall be paid such allowances and other expenses as the Council may determine by a resolution of a simple majority of votes of the members present and voting in the general meeting.

as an intermediary between the Council, members of the Council and the public;

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to determine process and procedure for a complaint system;

to establish an efficient and swift dispute resolution system to ensure public confidence in the members of the Council and the media industry; and

to promote understanding and compliance of the ethical and responsible journalism.

The determination of the regulatory mechanism for procedures relating to complaints of grievance shall be made and adopted by the Council from time to time, by a resolution of a simple majority of votes of the members present and voting at the general meeting.

Matters in respect of disciplinary powers

The Council shall, establish any disciplinary offences, impose any disciplinary penalties and determine the procedures for disciplinary proceedings, by a resolution of a simple majority of votes of the members present and voting at the general meeting.

The Malaysian Media Council Fund shall consist of—

For the purposes of paragraph (2)(a), for any period that the Council received any sums provided by the Parliament for the purposes of this Act, the Statutory Bodies (Accounts and Annual

Reports) Act 1980 [Act 240] shall apply to the Council.

The Council shall not receive any foreign fund.

Notwithstanding subsection (4), the Council may receive foreign fund without any conditions from any individual or foreign organization for the purpose of promoting awareness and providing education in relation to media industry, subject to the approval of the Minister.

Expenditure to be charged on Malaysian Media Council Fund

paying any expenditure lawfully incurred by the Council;

paying the remuneration, allowances and other expenses of the members of the Board, committees and employees of the Council;

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financing research activities in relation to the development of the media industry;

paying any membership fees to any bodies or associations, within or outside of Malaysia, of which the Council is a member as the Board may determine;

making contributions to bodies or organizations, within or outside Malaysia, related to journalism activities as the Board may determine; and

paying any other expenses, costs or expenditure in relation to the procurement of goods and services, including the engagement of consultants, fees and legal costs and other fees and costs, properly incurred or accepted by the Council in the performance of its functions and exercise of its powers under this Act.

Notwithstanding paragraph (1)(e), any contributions to bodies or organizations outside Malaysia shall be subject to the approval of the Minister.

The Minister may, upon the recommendation of the Council, by order published in the Gazette, amend the Second Schedule.

Safekeeping of records and accounts of Council

minutes of the meeting of the Board;

minutes of the general meeting of the Council;

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papers considered for all resolutions in the meetings of the Board;

papers considered for all resolutions in the general meeting;

and

accounts and records of accounts as will sufficiently explain the transactions of the accounts to enable a true and fair balance sheet, income and expenditure statement and profit and loss statement to be prepared.

Guideline, directive, etc.

Any member who fails to comply with the guideline, directive, circular, standard and notice is subject to the disciplinary proceedings of the Council.

Such guideline, directive, circular, standard and notice shall be made and adopted by the Council by a resolution of a simple majority of votes of the members present and voting in the general meeting.

Code of conduct

The code of conduct shall be made and adopted by the Council by a resolution of a simple majority of votes of the members present and voting in the general meeting.

If it comes to the knowledge of the Council that there is an alleged breach of the code of conduct committed by any member of the Council, the matter shall be dealt with by the grievance mechanism and disciplinary proceedings established under Part IV.

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Protection against suits and legal proceedings

four members of the Board consisting of media companies represented by their respective media publisher or nominated senior management;

four members of the Board consisting of media associations represented by any nominated member of the association, media practitioner and independent media practitioner; and

four members of the Board consisting of non-media members.

The members of the founding Board appointed by the Minister shall appoint a Chairman which shall head the Board.

The founding Board shall perform the functions and powers of the Board from the date of appointment of the founding Board until the nomination and election of the members of the Board under subsection 8(4) of this Act be conducted.

The founding Board shall be responsible to hold the first general meeting of the Council.

The tenure of office of the members of the founding Board is not subject to the tenure of office as provided in section 10 of this Act.

Meetings of the Board

The Chairman shall preside at all meetings of the Board.

If the Chairman is absent at any meeting of the Board, the Chairman may direct the Deputy Chairman to replace him as the chairperson of the meeting and if the Chairman and the Deputy Chairman are absent, the Board shall elect from among themselves to preside at the meeting.

The quorum of the Board for the meetings shall be eleven members, including the Chairman.

The Board shall determine its own procedure of meetings.

The Board may invite others to meetings

A person invited under subparagraph (1) may be paid such allowances and other expenses as the Council may determine by a resolution of a simple majority of votes of the members present and voting in the general meeting.

Disclosure of interest

A disclosure under subparagraph (1) shall be recorded in the minutes of the meeting of the Board in which the matter is discussed and, after the disclosure, the member—

Notice of the first general meeting shall be sent to the members of the Council, in such manner as the founding Board may determine, not less than thirty days before the date of the meeting, and not more than sixty days.

The quorum for the first general meeting shall be one third of the membership of the Council.

The agenda for the first general meeting shall include the following matters:

The founding Board shall cause to be prepared and presented to the first general meeting—

Matters that require decision in the first general meeting shall be determined by a resolution of a simple majority of votes of the members present and voting in the general meeting.

Where there is an equality of votes, the chairperson of the meeting shall have a casting vote in addition to his deliberative vote.

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Annual general meeting

Notice of an annual general meeting shall be sent to the members of the Council, in such manner as the Council may determine, not less than thirty days before the date of the meeting, and not more than sixty days.

Notice of an annual general meeting shall include but not limited to the following particulars:

Notice of an annual general meeting shall be accompanied with—

Any member of the Council may, in such manner as the Board may determine, submit any motion to be considered at an annual general meeting, and such motion shall be submitted to the Board at least twenty-one days before the annual general meeting is held.

The quorum for an annual general meeting shall be one third of the membership of the Council.

If a quorum referred to in subparagraph (6) is not present within one hour from the time appointed for holding the meeting, the meeting shall be adjourned to the following day at the same time and place unless otherwise notified, and if the quorum is not present at such adjourned meeting within one hour from the time appointed, the members present and entitled to vote, whatever their number, shall constitute a quorum and may conduct the business for which the meeting was convened.

The Board shall cause to be prepared and presented to an annual general meeting—

Matters that require a decision in an annual general meeting shall be determined by a resolution of a simple majority of votes of the members present and voting in the annual general meeting.

Where there is an equality of votes, the chairperson of the meeting shall have a casting vote in addition to his deliberative vote.

Extraordinary general meeting

Procedures in relation to an extraordinary general meeting of the Council are as determined by the Council.