For Malaysian journalists, unpredictability now hurts more than outright bans, bringing rise to the age-old question: Whither Press Freedom?
Let’s call it what it is. Malaysia’s press freedom is backsliding, and the Madani government’s excuses are wearing thin.
We’re 95th out of 180 countries in 2026, down seven places in a year.
That’s not progress, but a signal that the space for independent journalism is shrinking again, even under a government that promised reform.
The numbers alone don’t tell the whole story. What matters is what happens in newsrooms when the phone rings, when a source goes quiet, or when an editor kills a story not because it’s wrong, but because it’s risky.
Malaysian journalists are rarely beaten in the street, and Reporters Without Borders (RSF) noted a slight improvement in safety for 2026.
But safety from assault means little when legal harassment, police raids, and smear campaigns do the job instead. Cross certain lines and you risk prosecution.
Managed
When the law is used this way, the press stops being a check on power and becomes a managed channel for it.
Two things keep holding us back.
First, the legal framework. The Sedition Act 1948 and the Communications and Multimedia Act (CMA) are still on the books and still being deployed.
The Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) recorded a 23 per cent rise in the use of expression-restricting laws in 2025. That’s not deterrence against hate speech. It’s deterrence against scrutiny.
Second, ownership. Strict licensing and concentrated media ownership mean a handful of politically connected groups control much of the sector.
When a publisher’s business interests depend on government goodwill, editorial independence doesn’t stand a chance.
Examples From The Last Two Years
In January 2026, former FMT journalist Rex Tan was arrested after asking about race at a public forum on Palestine.
Tan was investigated under the Sedition Act 1948, Section 505 of the Penal Code, and Section 233 of the CMA.
CIJ said the arrest failed to meet international standards of proportionality and created a chilling effect.
In March 2026, Tamil-language daily’s journalist Kalidas Subramaniam was detained for over 24 hours after reporting on alleged undocumented migrant workers at Kulim Hi-Tech Park.
Police investigated Kalidas for criminal trespass under Section 447 of the Penal Code. CIJ called the arrest disproportionate and alarming.
In 2025, Malaysiakini journalist B. Nantha Kumar was arrested and charged with bribery days after publishing an investigation into an alleged migrant trafficking syndicate at KLIA.
Nantha denied the charge and said he was acting undercover with immigration officials.
In May 2024, Australian blogger Murray Hunter was arrested in Thailand following a request from the Malaysian authorities under the Madani government.
Hunter had written critically on Malaysian politics.
The case raised concerns over the use of foreign jurisdictions to pursue critics beyond Malaysia’s borders.
Social Media Pages Are Targets Too
The pressure now extends to the platforms news outlets rely on.
In September 2025, Malaysiakini’s Facebook and KiniTV pages were suspended for several hours just after the outlet published an investigation into a network of accounts boosting Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s Facebook engagement.
The episode came as the government tightens control over platforms through the licensing regime under the CMA and the new Online Safety Act 2025.
When platforms are made answerable to regulators, the line between moderation and editorial pressure blurs, and newsrooms lose another channel to publish freely.
Press Freedom and the Red Lines
Under Barisan Nasional and former Prime Minister Najib Razak, the media environment was restrictive but more predictable.
Between 2012 and 2017, Malaysia’s RSF rank moved from 141st to 144th. Low, but stable.
Editors knew where the red lines were, and newsrooms could plan.
Outlets like Malaysiakini still published hard-hitting investigations, and elections in 2013 and 2018 were open and combative.
Since 2023 the picture has been volatile.
We went from 73rd to 107th, back to 88th, and now sit at 95th.
Each year brings new interpretations of old laws and fresh cases against journalists.
That unpredictability makes it harder to run investigations and easier to self-censor.
For many who worked through both periods, the Najib years allowed more room to operate day to day.
The Contradiction At The Core
The gap between what’s said and what’s done is the real story here.
Anwar says Malaysia is “maturing” and must give “more open space” for criticism.
Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil says “journalists have the right to ask any questions.”
But the laws haven’t changed, and the arrests haven’t stopped.
Rex Tan gets investigated for asking about race. Kalidas Subramaniam is detained for reporting on migrant workers. Malaysiakini’s Nantha faces bribery charges days after publishing an investigation.
Even bloggers abroad are not safe, as Murray Hunter’s arrest showed.
You can’t claim to uphold press freedom while using the Sedition Act and Section 233 of the CMA to prosecute reporting that embarrasses the powerful, and while seeking to silence critics across borders.
That’s not maturity. That’s managed messaging dressed up as reform.
If the government wants credibility on this, it needs to do two things: repeal or amend the laws that criminalise speech, and let the Malaysian Media Council operate without political control.
Until then, the quotes from Putrajaya will keep contradicting the files in the courts.
Malaysia’s press freedom won’t be measured by press releases.
It’ll be measured by whether media outlets can publish a story the government wishes hadn’t been written. Right now, many can’t. – NMH
The writer is Vice-President of Parti Cinta Malaysia and a commentator on governance and public policy. The views expressed are his own.
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