One of the most prominent independent media outlets in Malaysia was found in contempt of court over comments posted by readers, a verdict condemned as a serious obstacle to freedom of expression in the country.
The attorney general filed charges against Malaysiakini and its editor-in-chief, Steven Gan, last year over five comments from readers who criticized the judiciary.
Gan and the press claimed that they could not be held responsible and that the moderators removed the offensive comments as soon as they were contacted by the police. However, a federal court ruled that the site is entirely responsible and fined him 500,000 rings ($ 123,000) on Friday.
Gan, who faced a possible prison sentence on charges, was found not guilty.
Gan said Malaysiakini was very disappointed with the decision and that it would have “a terrible freezing impact on discussions on public interest issues”.
The verdict, Gan said, “dealt a blow to our ongoing anti-corruption campaign, among other things,” Malaysiakini reported.
“I think the decision taken against us and the heavy fine that has been imposed on us is probably an attempt not to punish us but also to shut us down,” he said.
Since then, the press has launched a call for crowdfunding to cover the fine.
Malaysiakini, which was described as the country’s first independent news site, was founded in 1999 by Gan and Premesh Chandran, who were frustrated by widespread censorship in the media. For the next two decades, the site’s journalists were targeted by authorities, arrested, accused of behaving as traitors and banned from press conferences.
Media freedoms began to improve after the 2018 elections, 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 reformist government last February was followed by a reduction in media freedoms. In the past year, criminal investigations have been launched against journalists and activists who have criticized the government, including Al Jazeera, who was investigated for 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 verdict was a sign that the country was “back to the bad old days of Malaysian governments trying to censor and control what the media published about them.” .
The case against Malaysiakini was even more egregious, he added, because the press was not the author of the offensive comments: “What you have now is that an online publisher is responsible for the comments of readers with whom they had practically nothing to do and that they took off as soon as they were notified by the police. It is extremely dangerous for freedom of expression. ”
Amnesty International Malaysia said the verdict was “another example of declining space for people to express themselves freely in the country”.
“The conviction and fine of RM 500,000 is a serious failure for freedom of expression in the country,” said Katrina Jorene Maliamauv, executive director of Amnesty International Malaysia.