LETTER | Free our media from external pressures

LETTER | May 29 is National Journalists’ Day. Independence of the media remains at the most critical stage of importance for the country and the world.

It has to remain free from internal political dictate and influence and the equally important, if not more crucial, influence of foreign powers and their attempts to sway and interfere in local and public discourse and awareness.

Awareness of the need to free the media and to ensure journalists get a free and open discourse and opening for independent reporting has been extensively improved over the decade, but the same thing cannot be said about the state of foreign influence and swaying attempts to dictate local discourse.

The government has reiterated its stance on a free and independent media landscape, providing assurances for free and critical reporting on discourses of national importance. However, the thorny and taboo topic of foreign interference and influence attempts on the local media scene has largely and often been ignored and swept under the carpet.

It is almost off-limits for anyone to bring up, or to start a serious public awareness and discussion on this concern, and this remains a dangerous precedent on our national security and independence of our own free will and national interests to provide a fair and balanced reporting on critical issues that will determine our future.

Editorial boards and their authority have always played a key role in determining the content and the direction of content reporting. It remains critical in ensuring that there is no external pressure or influence in determining the decision-making in the content and reports.

In providing open, fair and balanced reporting, there has to be a moral obligation and responsibility in providing the audience with the freedom and openness of access to the whole spectrum of arguments and the assessment of the issue at hand.

It is not enough to just ensure a level playing field and a free and independent media opening for all media practitioners in the country.

It is equally important, if not more crucial, to ensure that the media fraternity, especially in the top editorial board management that has the crucial powers to dictate the direction and content of news pieces and narratives, remain free from external foreign pressure or influence attempts.

If this is not properly and seriously looked into, the integrity and independence of the media will forever be at the will and fancy of foreign powers, and will risk our future national survival and interests.

Foreign soft power sway and influence attempts have been recorded with greater intensity all over the world, including Malaysia.

The elephant in the room, issues on China have largely still remained as a taboo topic in the local discourse. China is ramping up efforts to influence policy and public opinion in large swaths of the world, from this region to Europe, as have been widely acknowledged but remained subdued in the local coverage.

As seen in this region, the EU is similar in being largely ignorant and blind to these attempts of influence, as pointed out by experts.

As reported by Politico, quoting Ivana Karásková, a foreign influence specialist who’s advising European Commission vice president Věra Jourová, since 2019, China’s approach to the EU has been “hardening” as it ramps up direct propaganda via so-called wolf warrior diplomats; as well as covert funding of think tanks, academic institutions and nonprofit organisations.

The same model is used in the region and increasingly in the country, as pointed out by the latest Freedom House report on Beijing’s global media influence and soft power efforts.

This is further exacerbated by the trapped dogma that our local media and journalists face in trying to point out the truth, as most are tied to these external sources of funding and revenue and remain dependent on their advertising funding and also pressure to dictate.

Karásková pointed out the mushrooming of NGOs and think tanks with Chinese funding, and similar risks remain in the region and the country but the level of awareness remains sadly and dangerously low.

Malaysia is placed as the 10th country most influenced by China by China Index, a database relaunched on Dec 8, 2022, by DoubleThink Labs.

This study that measures Beijing’s expanding global sway mentioned our links to and dependency on Beijing, in terms of foreign and domestic policy, technology, and the economy make us particularly susceptible to Chinese influence.

In compiling the China Index, the research team focused on nine categories to track influence around the world that include higher education, domestic politics, economic ties, foreign policy, law enforcement, media, military cooperation, cultural links, and technology.

For Malaysia, the entrenched economy and trade dependence remains the deepest stumbling block to future comprehensive risk patterns and policy independence and flexibility.

Trade and investment were an early impetus for Beijing’s global sway, but Chinese influence in foreign policy, local media, and increasingly in defence and security has been the predominant pursuit with ripple effects seen throughout, especially in Malaysia.

The latest Freedom House Report of 2022 has highlighted the extent and impact of the global Chinese media sway, including Malaysia, in which we are ranked as “High”. The intensity of Beijing’s media influence efforts was designated as “High” or “Very High” in 16 of the 30 countries examined in the study.

For Malaysia, the Freedom House report highlighted a series of sustained Chinese efforts. Chinese state narratives in Malaysia follow the standard Chinese propaganda package: a mixture of rapport building, positive promotion of China and the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) governance model, and counter-narrative to international criticism, particularly from the United States.

China is seen as too critical in economic security and for local regime security with the often harped about RM170 billion investments “at stake”. This has again been made the pretext to justify any toning down of critical reports or opinion pieces on China.

Critical opinion pieces on China, our policy with Beijing or China’s strategic agenda in the region and the country have mostly been censored or snubbed altogether, even pulled. There have been overwhelming pro-Beijing pieces and voices in the media, whether in print or otherwise.

It does not take an ignorant person to sense the predominant pro-China sentiments and anti-West disdain in the local reporting scene, from the readers to contributors and authors in the opinion segments, which are given ample space and coverage. The same cannot be said for differing arguments and analyses that take on the side of the West.

The hypocrisy remains that overwhelming space is given to pro-China narratives and anti-US voices, while the already few and dwindling counter-narratives are often pushed back, all while trying to portray that the media remains free and independent and the willingness to provide a fair and balanced argument.

It strengthens the narrative that you can criticise the US and the West all you want, with their perceived atrocities and biasness, but you cannot do the same with China.

It is reported that there are reprisals for critical reporting and hence the pursuit of self-censorship, wary that critical reporting may result in retribution or harm bilateral ties.

As stated in the report’s future trajectory of Beijing's influence, the narratives on the South China Sea would be made a key parameter. As tensions continue to grow over territorial issues in the South China Sea, local media have been careful to not villainise China while still respecting local sentiments toward Malaysia’s territories.

The report opines that Beijing or some local actors may in turn feel the need to apply greater pressure on media owners and journalists to support Beijing’s position or avoid critical reporting.

The report outlined that the CCP and its proxies are using more sophisticated and coercive tactics to shape media narratives and suppress critical reporting.

Mass distribution of Beijing-backed content via mainstream media, harassment and intimidation of outlets that publish news or opinions disfavored by the Chinese government, and the use of cyberbullying, fake social media accounts, and targeted disinformation campaigns are among the tactics that have been employed more widely since 2019, according to the report.

The report also highlighted inadequate government responses leaving countries vulnerable to Chinese efforts. Declines in press freedom and gaps in media regulations have reduced democratic resilience and created greater opportunities for future CCP media influence.

In 23 countries, political leaders launched attacks on domestic media or exploited legitimate concerns about Chinese influence to impose arbitrary restrictions, target critical outlets, or fuel xenophobic sentiment.

The report also pointed out disinformation campaigns that have gained intensity, with Malaysia being at the epicentre of a couple of major Chinese-language and pro-Beijing disinformation campaigns that take their repetitious material directly from Chinese-language content farms.

True adherence to the spirit of national identity, sovereignty and integrity will mean complete liberalisation from fear and threats from external influence and pressure and full autonomy of rights to dictate our own policies and paths of progress in securing our interests and sovereignty.

That will be what a truly free press and the authority to dictate reporting will mean. It means we have our full autonomy and rights to press on our own interests and to provide the full picture and scope of understanding to the people. This remains a national duty and pride, to serve national interests and the people first.

The Freedom House report concluded that there were steady Chinese government's media influence efforts in Malaysia. Perhaps the silver lining is that there is still considerable public wariness and awareness of Chinese propagandistic efforts to sway opinions, as found out in the report.

It aptly called for long-term democratic resilience. Governments, media outlets, civil society, and technology firms all have a role to play in enhancing democratic resilience in the face of increasingly aggressive external influence efforts.

Building up independent discourse, improving transparency on media ownership and disinformation campaigns, and shoring up underlying protections for press freedom are all essential components of an effective response strategy, as rightly stated and recommended by the experts who founded the analysis in the report.

The government has been steadfast in the need for the media to be brave and independent, and this should start from a media landscape that is free from foreign dictate.

The sources of funding, ties, or support from foreign entities must be made more accountable to ensure that national interests remain protected.

By being beholden to this external funding and support, we risk our long-term interests on critical fronts including our territorial integrity and economic resilience being at the mercy of foreign dictates by means of grabbing and dominating local public sentiments and discourse and trapping our options to manoeuvre.

Our current contextual need and demand of economic dependence and trade ties require that we keep our status quo, in ensuring our short-term goals are met, at the potential expense of our long-term interests.

Continue that long enough or without proper oversight, we will soon fall deeper into the abyss, barring effective strategies and meticulous countermeasures of our own.

We must urgently uphold our freedom, sovereignty and national pride in determining our own course of action and our media freedom, free from external pressures, dictate, and possible blackmail and influence.

This writer is a foreign affairs and strategy analyst at Universiti Malaya.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.