INITIATE.MY’s Courtesy Visits to Astro AWANI, Malaysiakini, and BFM89.9

Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, 7 and 17 October 2024 – INITIATE.MY conducted courtesy visits to Astro AWANI, Malaysiakini, and BFM89.9. These visits provided a platform for knowledge exchange, where INITIATE.MY shared its research on online extremism, hate speech, and the abuse of AI, while gaining insights into the media outlets’ editorial processes and strategies for addressing sensitive issues. 

At Astro AWANI, discussions focused on the integration of AI technologies in newsroom operations, particularly in content creation and moderation. The team emphasised the importance of maintaining human oversight to preserve emotional intelligence and journalistic integrity. They also shared their approach to curating content in sensitive areas, such as national security and geopolitics such as the Israel-Palestine conflict to ensure facts-based reporting. Astro AWANI emphasised the importance of collaboration with organisations like INITIATE.MY to identify and mitigate dangerous narratives online.

At Malaysiakini and BFM89.9, the dialogue centred on how media platforms can serve as a space for diverse perspectives, enabling more nuanced coverage of sensitive topics and promoting constructive dialogue that goes beyond polarising polarising narratives. Discussions also touched on the media’s role in supporting the government’s policy document such as the Malaysian Action Plan on Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism (MyPCVE). The conversations also underscored how civil society organisations and media outlets can work together to combat extremist ideologies both online and offline.

INITIATE.MY recognised the importance of media as a key stakeholder on preventing and countering violent extremism due to their role in shaping public discourse, providing accurate information, and offering critical perspectives that can help mitigate the spread of extremist behaviours. Collaboration between civil society organisations and the media is also essential in creating a safer, more informed society where diverse views are respected, and extremist narratives are effectively challenged.