UPDATE @10.30pm: The minister has issued out a statement that says his answers in Parliament were taken out of context. He further explained that he was just quoting the act that was made in 1981 and at that time there was no Tiktok or YouTube. The ministry agrees that there is a need to update the act. They also clarified that they had no intentions of restricting an individual’s freedom on social media (which did not exist back in 1981). They then said that the ministry is open to the public’s opinions and suggestions.
Talks of the FINAS licensing is everywhere as of now. If you’re unclear about what is happening, here’s a brief summary of the issue.
During the parliament proceeding today (23rd July), the Communications and Multimedia Minister, Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah said that all filming requires a Film Production Licence and Film Shooting Certificate (SSP).
“FINAS supplies three kinds of licenses to the film industry. These consist of: licenses to produce, distribute, and broadcast videos or films. Under Section 22(1) of the FINAS Act, no person can involve themselves in activities to produce, distribute or broadcast films unless they hold this license.”
This means that all production involving film in media agencies, production houses or individual media outlets MUST apply for a FINAS licence before filming including those on social media (Youtube, Tiktok, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, etc.). In order to acquire a FINAS licence, one would have to fork up RM50,000.
In response to this issue, Syed Saddiq became the voice of Malaysian content creators and urged the parliament to reconsider the need for the license to be applied to them.
“This proposal will kill the Malaysian content creators who are in majority, youths. Just take a look at all the content creators out there such as Naelofar, Max Man Tv and JinnyBoyTV. ”
“They managed to develop their content to this extent because there was no need for them to get this expensive license.”
Syed Saddiq added that by implementing the need for an expensive license on content creators, it is unfair and it also “kills the creativity of the youth”. He estimates that 250,000 Malaysian youths will be affected financially if this goes through.
To end his speech, Syed Saddiq pleaded to the minister to retract his statement and to really reflect upon it and come up with clear guidelines. “It is especially important for small-scale content creators to not be subjected to the heftily-priced licensing in order to not put a damper on their futures.”
Saya merayu & mendesak, kaji semula!
Anak muda, content creators tak mampu nak bayar Rm50,000 untuk Lesen Finas.
Jangan bunuh creativity anak muda.
Jangan jejaskan pendapatan ratusan ribu anak muda! pic.twitter.com/55hHOpv1vd
— Syed Saddiq (@SyedSaddiq) July 23, 2020
Before his afternoon speech in Dewan Rakyat, Syed Saddiq posted a video of him jumping around with a caption that says,
“Does this video of me jumping in Muar need a RM50,000 Finas license? Kasi chance please. Majority of the netizens cannot afford to pay that hefty sum to post videos on social media. Don’t you agree?”
Video lompat lompat saya di Muar kena dapatkan lesen Finas RM50,000 juga ke?
Kasi chance please ?
majoriti netizens tak mampu nak bayar RM50,000 untuk post video on social media.
setuju?#MediaKita https://t.co/2q5I3fRsrN pic.twitter.com/9JKS4VeE7y
— Syed Saddiq (@SyedSaddiq) July 23, 2020
Stay tuned for more updates on this FINAS issue! Do you agree with what Syed Saddiq said? Let us know.
Also read: (Updated) Filming In ALL Forms, Including Social Media, Requires License, Says Multimedia Minister
