Nallini cites judicial experience as asset in MMM role

PETALING JAYA: Former Federal Court judge Nallini Pathmanathan said her appointment as chair of the Malaysian Media Council (MMM) was a deliberate move to safeguard independence, fairness and public trust in the body.

Nallini said the legislation establishing MMM requires its chairman to be someone outside politics, the civil service and the legislature, ensuring independence from competing institutional interests.

She said her background on the Bench, including 18 years as a judge and more than two decades at the Bar, equipped her with the discipline of due process, evidence-based reasoning and neutrality required for the role.

“This is not an oversight, but a carefully crafted requirement,” she said.

“I cannot teach journalists their craft. What I can do is ensure fair process, protect independence, and ensure decisions are made without fear or favour.”

She was speaking during a dialogue session with the media in conjunction with National Journalists’ Day 2026 at a hotel in Butterworth today.

Nallini said her distance from the media industry should not be seen as a weakness but as a strength that allows the council to be trusted equally by media practitioners, regulators and the public.

She said MMM is a self-regulatory body created by law but driven by industry participation, relying on professional consent rather than state enforcement.

Its functions include setting standards, handling complaints and improving consistency across newsrooms, particularly amid challenges posed by digital media and artificial intelligence-generated content.

Nallini also highlighted growing threats from fake news, impersonated media branding and AI-generated content, which she said undermine public trust in journalism.

To address this, she proposed an initiative to quickly verify disputed media content during the Johor and Negeri Sembilan state elections on July 11 and Aug 1, respectively.

Under the framework, MMM will act as a central coordinator to help authenticate disputed content while leaving verification responsibility to the original media organisations.

Nallini stressed that the mechanism will not judge the truth of campaign statements, focussing only on whether content was actually published by legitimate news organisations.

She said the initiative is designed to address the growing misuse of news branding and logos to produce fake graphics and misleading reports, particularly on social media platforms during election periods.

A public awareness campaign titled “Siapa Kata? Sos Mana?” (“Who said? What’s the source?) will also be launched, encouraging voters to verify claims by checking the source before sharing or believing election-related content.