A Malaysian politician called for the media to adhere to journalism ethics, Malaysia’s New Straits Times reported.
Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi indicated that ethics issues like bias and accuracy are particularly problematic in online news outlets.
“There are no problems with the conventional or traditional media platforms but when it comes to online news portals, there are some news editors who have their own agenda or the agenda is set based on the owners on what is to be published,” he said.
Ahmad Zahid also called out the online comments section and social media for featuring “coarse language” or negative remarks.
“The new media platform or social media is lacking journalism ethics because the comments, for example, can contain coarse language, or is made without following a guideline which could hurt the feelings and sentiments of others, in the name of freedom in speech and media,” he said.
Malaysia ranked 147 out of 180 countries on Reporters without Borders 2014 annual press freedom list.