MEDIA CH A PT E R 1 OVERVIEW Throughout the year, SUHAKAM issued a total of 52 press statements on various human rights issues including children, the 14th General Election, women, education, death penalty, migrants, freedom of thought, conscience and religion or belief, unilateral conversion, human trafficking, freedom of movement, Sedition Act, Anti-Fake News Bill 2018, Anti-Discrimination Bill, National Harmony and Reconciliation Commission Bill and Racial and Religious Hatred Bill, Official Secrets Act 1972 (OSA), the smoking ban and police lock-up conditions. It is noted that media coverage, including mainstream media, increased towards the end of the year. It can be concluded that while most media outlets covered accurately SUHAKAM’s stance on various human rights issues through its press statements, some media institutions seem to provide erroneous reporting of it. This misleads readers, resulting in a lack of understanding of SUHAKAM’s messages. Media institutions play an enormously important role in the promotion and protection of human rights and SUHAKAM hopes that the media will continue to support, disseminate information and provide the public with full, fair and accurate information on human rights issues. SUHAKAM will continue to raise awareness of the importance of ethical journalism and human rights protection and how, together, they can contribute to a better society. 1. Social media engagement SUHAKAM actively disseminates information on its activities, releases press statements and promotes human rights understanding through Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. As of this year, SUHAKAM has 14,355 followers on Twitter, 10,572 likes on Facebook and 498 followers on Instagram. 2. Human rights documentary In June, SUHAKAM collaborated with the United Nations Association of Malaysia (UNAM) Youth on a project to produce a documentary entitled, ‘Hak Yang Hilang’. The purpose of the documentary was to raise awareness, spark conversation and understanding among the public on the issue of child marriage, Orang Asli and migrant workers. Over 20 interviews were conducted with experts, MPs, religious leaders, community leaders and members among others. The 20-minute documentary was screened during SUHAKAM’s Human Rights Day celebrations on 9 December and will be made available on SUHAKAM’s YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/user/SukahamVideo SUHAKAM ANNUAL REPORT 2018 47