LETTER | Freedom of Information Act must not neglect disabled

LETTER | Currently, the Legal Affairs Division of the Prime Minister’s Department is surveying the suggestion for the drafting of the Freedom of Information Act. The same idea was also proffered by the Pakatan Harapan government post-GE14.

As a citizen who identifies as a blind person, I appreciate the commitment shown by the incumbent administration in forwarding this piece of legislation.

Having said that, the drafting process must be carried out inclusively and engage different layers and segments of Malaysian society, including the disabled community.

The provisions within the Freedom of Information Act must align, among others, with Malaysia’s obligation under Article 9 (accessibility) and Article 21 (freedom of expression and opinion, and access to information) of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) as well as respecting Article 16 (freedom from exploitation, violence, and abuse) and Article 22 (respect for privacy).

Several poignant provisions must be inserted in the draft of the Freedom of Information Act as follows:

1. Any platform or system developed and used to provide open access information and documents shall conform to the Web Content Accessibility Guideline (WCAG);

2. In pursuant to the above provision, the authority shall consult disabled persons of various categories before such platforms or systems are officially adopted;

3. Information and documents provided to the requester shall be in an accessible format;

4. The requester shall have the right to request information and documents to be provided in an alternative format;

5. Accessible format refers to materials prepared and published according to principles of accessible publication which are readable by users with and without assistive technologies;

6. Alternative format refers to the transcription of materials into a special format such as an easy-read document, braille document, Bahasa Isyarat Malaysia interpretation, and so forth;

7. The authority may consult or work with organisations representing disabled persons in producing materials in an accessible format or alternative format;

8. Individuals and organisations shall have the right to request information and documents from government agencies at all levels as long the purpose is non-commercial;

9. Documents include meeting minutes, departmental quarterly and annual activity reports, departmental quarterly and annual expenditure reports, internal research reports, data sets collected and used by department internal research, and any other documents pertaining to the operation and scope of work of the agency;

10. Individuals and organisations shall not be required to go through complicated layers of bureaucratic processing in order to request and receive the information and document; and,

11. No fee shall be imposed on any request, processing or delivery of information and documents to the requester, including the provision of information and documents in an accessible format or alternative format.

The Freedom of Information Act will have a significant implication and benefit to the disabled community in Malaysia. Therefore, the drafting process must engage this group alongside other important stakeholders.

Access to information is a human right. Government-related information and documents must be available to the public. To realise “Malaysia Madani”, freedom of information is crucial.

I also urge members of the disabled community in Malaysia to participate in the survey by the Legal Affairs Division of the Prime Minister’s Department via this link before Feb 16, 2023.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.