All
filming in Malaysia now requires a licence from the National Film Development
Corporation (FINAS), with producers having to inform FINAS seven days prior to
filming.
Malaysia’s Communications
and Multimedia Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah
said that the July 23 ruling was an update of
previous regulatory policies, and the government has defined filming as
recordings on any material, including features and short films, short subject
films, documentaries, trailers, and short films for advertisement, for viewing
by members of the public.
A day after announcing that the decision did not differentiate
between traditional broadcasting and those uploaded to social media, the minister
clarified that a licence to film will not be required for social networking
sites.
According to the guidelines on licence
application listed on the FINAS website, applicants must also be registered as
owners of a private limited company with a paid-up capital of at least
RM50,000 (US$12,000).
In the past, FINAS served as the regulatory
authority for the development of the film industry, including production,
distribution and exhibition of film content, as well as issuing licences for
films in Malaysia.
The decision has sowed
confusion and sparked an outcry from critics who see the ruling as a form of
control and censorship, but Minister Saifuddin stressed that the decision was taken
to ensure that filming laws, which was last set in 1981, are “applicable to
modern times” and the government has no
intention of stifling freedom of expression.
The ruling however comes in
the wake of Qatari state-owned broadcaster Al Jazeera showing a July 3
documentary Locked Up in Malaysia Lockdown
which featured undocumented migrant workers in the country being arrested or
going into hiding during the imposition of the country’s Movement Control Order
(MCO).