Malaysia’s highest court on Friday found Malaysiakini, the country’s most popular online newspaper, guilty of contempt of court over comments posted by readers that were deemed offensive to the judiciary, fining the publication 500,000 Malaysian ringgit ($123,644) in a case widely seen as a test of media freedom in the Southeast Asian nation.
Last year, Malaysia’s attorney general took action against Malaysiakini and editor-in-chief Steven Gan over five comments posted by readers on its website that he claimed undermined public confidence in the judiciary.
In a six-to-one decision on Friday, the Federal Court ruled that Malaysiakini held full responsibility for its website, including any comments left by readers. They said the case was a “reminder” to the public not to use online comments to attack the judiciary and that the fine reflected the gravity of the offence.
Several months into the Russian-brokered ceasefire that has halted fighting between Azerbaijani and ethnic Armenian forces in Nagorno-Karabakh, the battle to define the narrative of the conflict has moved from the battlefields of the disputed territory to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). This month, Baku and Yerevan have filed duelling suits at the […]
Pandemic and state pile pressure on Pakistani journalists
Newspaper editors label Covid-19 and state censorship as major threats to media workers
A new report by the Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors has identified Covid-19 and state censorship as major threats to journalists.
According to the Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors Media Freedom Report 2020 released on Jan. 31, nine journalists died battling the deadly pandemic last year while at least 10 were murdered.
“Journalists and cameramen increasingly became victims of the virus. Often they had to interview either the corona affected or people appointed for their treatment. They faced problems of adapting standard operating procedures in newsrooms and reportage of the virus. It depicts neglect and non-seriousness in taking necessary steps to protect media workers,” it states.
E47 is just one example among a global constellation of state-affiliated internet censor squads both in Vietnam and around the world, but Facebookâs failure to stand up to the group should worry dissidents regardless of nationality, particularly those who might have bought into the companyâs promises in the past. In an October 2019 op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, CEO Mark Zuckerberg declared that âFacebook stands for free expressionâ and that âin a democracy, a private company shouldnât have the power to censor politicians or the news.â COO Sheryl Sandberg testified under oath before Congress that the company âwould only operate in a country when we can do so in keeping with our values.â But an investigation by The Intercept shows that this public veneration of free expression exists in a different universe from the companyâs behind-the-scenes practices.