The Case of Sarawak Report and Malaysia Insider
Case Law- Country
- Country Location
Latitude: 4.2105
Longitude: 101.9758
- Country Location (linked Case Law)
- Malaysia
- Decision Date
- 20 de jul. de 2015
- Case Status
- In progress
- Case Outcome (Procedural)
- Motion Denied
- Case Outcome (Disposition)
- Blocking or Filtering of Information
- Keywords
- Internet Service Providers
- Political Expression
- Whistleblowing
- Judicial Body
- Administrative Court
- Case Number
- N/A
- Case Summary
In July 2015, after allegations of financial corruption in his administration had sparked national and international controversy, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak’s regime cracked down on a number of news outlets and blogs that had voiced criticism against the government. Among them, The Sarawak Report, a whistleblowing website founded and edited by British national Clare Rewcastle-Brown, disclosed a series of bribery and financial mismanagement within the government. In July 2015, the Communications and Multimedia Commission of Malaysia blocked the Report for allegedly having "unverified content." Later in August, police issued an arrest warrant against Rewcastle-Brown for criminal offenses under Sections 124B and 124I of the Penal Code, which effectively prohibited her from re-entering the country. Following that crackdown, a number of other news websites were shut down, including The Edge Financial Daily, Edge Weekly, Outsyed the Box, Din Turtle, the Asia Sentinel, Tabunginsider, Medium, the Malaysian Chronicle, and most recently, the widely read Malaysian Insider. According to the government, these blockages were justified under Malaysia’s Communications and Multimedia Act of 1998. In March 2015, the Commission announced the indefinite suspension of the Insider. Columbia Global Freedom of Expression could not identify the official legal and government records on the case and that the information contained in this report was derived from secondary sources. It must be noted that media outlets may not provide complete information about this case. Additional information regarding this legal matter will be updated as an official source becomes available.
- Case Significance
The decision does not establish a binding or persuasive precedent within its jurisdiction.
- Source Name and URL
- Columbia Global Freedom of Expression
- Collection
- CIPIT
- Date Updated
- 15 de mai. de 2024