KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has the democratic right to do what is necessary to ensure the sustainability of the media industry and protecting its work, said Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil.
He said this included introducing rules or laws for technology companies that use content produced by local media organisations to ensure fair compensation.
He said the government was ready to assist in negotiations for local media companies to get compensation from tech giants, whether directly or indirectly.
"The government is following closely the developments in Australia and Canada, which have introduced laws to protect media content and requiring parties involved to hold negotiations.
"The introduction of the News Media Bargaining and Digital Platforms Bargaining Code in Australia has seen Google and Facebook agreeing to pay A$220 million in compensation to media groups in the country last year.
"The introduction of the Online News Act in Canada led to Facebook's decision to boycott Canadian news."
He said this in a speech read by Communications and Digital Ministry deputy secretary-general (strategic) Mastura Ahmad at the National Media Forum 2023 organised by the Malaysian Press Institute at Aloft Kuala Lumpur Sentral here.
Two forums were held, featuring National Journalism Laureate Tan Sri Johan Jaafar and 'New Straits Times' group editor Farrah Naz Karim as moderators.
Fahmi said although such laws had risks, such as Facebook parent Meta's boycott move in Canada, Malaysia had the democratic right to introduce such legislation.
He said Malaysia's media companies had to bear high costs in advertising and content creation just to end up being exploited by big tech companies.
He said the digital transition had been devastating for the news industry in many places, including Malaysia, a study by a media company showed.
"It is estimated that the advertisement expenditure (ADEX) for 2022 was RM7.08 billion, and RM5.15 billion of the total went to digital platforms.
"Print media only got RM400 million last year, compared with RM1.6 billion in 2015. It is the same for TV and radio stations.
"In 2027, the ADEX is expected to be as high as RM8.1 billion.
"However, of that amount, more than RM7 billion will go to big tech companies like Google, Facebook and TikTok, while other platforms such as print media, radio and TV and digital only get a small portion of ADEX."