Malaysia’s leading independent news portal Malaysiakini was handed a hefty half a million ringgit fine after they were found to be in contempt of court by the Federal Court on February 19, the penalty was more than double the fine prosecutors had sought. The highest court of the country ruled that Malaysiakini was guilty of contempt over five comments posted by readers on its website last year, saying that it was responsible for the dissemination of remarks deemed to have undermined the “system of justice” in the country. The editor-in-chief and co-founder Steven Gan, was found not guilty of the charges. 

This is the landmark decision by the Malaysian courts, if not, the first to be trialled directly in the Federal Court, contrary to the usual legal proceedings. How will this affect the future media landscape in Malaysia and how will newsrooms operate after this? In this episode, I speak to Premesh Chandran, CEO and co-founder of Malaysiakini to tell us more.