One of Malaysia’s most prominent independent news outlets was found in contempt of court due to comments posted by readers.
The attorney general last year filed charges against Malaysiakini and its editor-in-chief, Steven Gan, over five reader comments that were critical of the judiciary.
Gan and the outlet maintained that they could not be held responsible, and that moderators removed the offending comments as soon as they were contacted by police. However, a federal court has ruled that the site has full responsibility and fined it $ 500,000 ($ 123,000) on Friday.
Gan, who faces a possible jail sentence for the allegations, was found not guilty.
Gan said Malaysiakini was very disappointed with the decision and that it would have a “tremendous, huge impact on discussions of issues of public interest”.
The verdict, according to Gan, is a major blow to our ongoing campaign to fight corruption, among other things, Malaysian reports.
“I think the decision that was taken against us and the huge fine that was imposed against us is perhaps an attempt to not only punish us, but also to close,” he said.
The outlet has since called for crowdfunding to cover the fine.
Described as the country’s first independent news website, Malaysiakini was founded in 1999 by Gan and Premesh Chandran, who were frustrated by the widespread censorship in the mainstream media. In the next two decades, the authorities’ journalists are targeted, arrested, accused of behaving like traitors and banned from press conferences.
Media freedoms began to improve after the 2018 election, when the United Malaysian National Organization (UMNO), which has ruled Malaysia for 61 years, was replaced by a reformist coalition.
However, the collapse of the reform government in February last year was followed by a crackdown on media freedoms. In the past year, criminal investigations have been instituted against both journalists and activists who have criticized the government, including Al Jazeera, which has been investigated on the basis of sedition after publishing a documentary on the country’s treatment of migrant workers.
Phil Robertson, deputy director of Human Rights Watch’s Asia division, said the ruling was a sign that the country had “returned to the bad old days of Malaysian governments trying to censor and control what the media says about it. ‘
The case against Malaysiakini was even worse, he added, because the offense did not write the offending comment: ‘What you have now is an online publisher held liable for comments from readers who have nothing to do with them. had not and what they accepted off as soon as they were notified by the police. It is extremely dangerous for freedom of expression. ”
Amnesty International Malaysia said the ruling was “another example of the shrinking space for people to express themselves freely in the country.”
“The conviction and the fine of RM500,000 is a serious setback for freedom of expression in the country,” said Katrina Jorene Maliamauv, executive director of Amnesty International Malaysia.