DA NANG, Sept 20 — Malaysia has agreed to be the vice-chair for the Information, Media and Training Working Group at the 20th Meeting of Asean Senior Officials Responsible for Information (Somri) on Wednesday.
Communications and Digital Ministry (KKD) Secretary-General Datuk Mohamad Fauzi Md Isa said all member states participating in the meeting also agreed to Malaysia holding the vice-chair for the 2023-2025 term.
“At the meeting today, Malaysia volunteered to be the vice-chair for the working group and the offer was welcomed by the chair (Vietnam) and unanimously accepted by member states.
“Through this working group, Malaysia sees opportunities and space to share our expertise and experiences, particularly in the fields of information, media, and training, with other Asean countries,” he told Bernama after attending the Somri Plenary Session.
He added that as the vice-chair, Malaysia would also focus on efforts to curb the spread of inaccurate information and fake news, along with the Asean Task Force on Fake News (TFFN), which is under this working group.
The first TFFN meeting in October last year agreed to establish a specialised cooperation mechanism among Asean member states to address and mitigate the adverse effects of fake news in the Southeast Asian region.
Mohamad Fauzi said Malaysia personally shared its mechanism to curb the spread of inaccurate information through strategic cooperation among several government agencies, including by appointing an official government spokesperson, establishing an official website, official social media channels, and fact-checking networks such as sebenarnya.my and MyCheck.
“Also about our awareness programmes and campaigns, as well as legislation that educates the Malaysian public to use social media responsibly, such as the Klik Dengan Bijak (Click Wisely) campaign, an initiative by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC),” he said.
On the TFFN Action Plan, Malaysia sees the plan as a framework which can help Asean member states plan and strategically implement programmes and initiatives to combat the spread of inaccurate information in the region.
“We (Malaysia) have shared our perspective with Asean and we fully support the TFFN Action Plan,” Mohamad Fauzi said.
He leads the Malaysian delegation to Somri at Furama Resort Danang from September 20 to September 21.
The delegation includes the Department of Information’s (Japen) Director of Media and Corporate Communication Datuk E. Sivabalan, Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama) Deputy Editor-in-Chief (News Service) Nur-ul Afida Kamaludin, as well as other high-ranking officials from KKD and its agencies.
Somri will be followed by the 16th Conference of Asean Ministers Responsible for Information (AMRI) and Related Meetings from September 20 to September 23.
Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil will lead the Malaysia delegation at AMRI.
Themed Media: From Information to Knowledge for a Resilient and Responsive Asean, Somri focuses on efforts to tackle disinformation and combat fake news, to build a more resilient and responsive Asean community.
— Bernama
