A whistle blower website Edisi Siasat has been blocked, and the whistleblower in the Sabah scandal have been charged...
Does Malaysia encourage people to expose wrongdoings/crimes of Ministers, Prime Ministers, and others? When the 1MDB and SRC crimes were happening, why did not of our public officers expose it - if they did, then the CRIME could have been stopped, and Malaysia could have saved so much monies... Maybe, we need a law that would criminalize public officers who 'suspect' a crime for failing to report to the relevant law enforcement authorities...
Remember that PUBLIC OFFICERS are responsible to the Malaysian people, and not just the current PM and government... The fact that Prime Ministers and Ministers do commit crimes, sometimes abuse of power crimes, is already clear. Even now, there are pending investigations and trials ongoing against past government Prime Ministers, Ministers, etc.. After GE16, if and when PM Anwar's Madani Government is ousted, it is possible we will see cases being commenced against Ministers of this current government.
The 'attack' against whistleblowers or even investigative journalist who DARE to expose possible crimes of politicians in power, or their 'friends' was something we hoped will end when the 'REFORMASI' alternative government ousted the BN regime of old in GE14 - but it seems it is still here...
In George Orwell's Animal
Farm, a key lesson is that even after overthrowing an oppressive regime,
the new leaders can become just as corrupt and tyrannical as the old
Anyway, 2 important NEWS
1 - The Whistleblower in the Sabah corruption case is not going to 'protected' but will charged in court - thus his/her identity will be exposed; and
Malaysian whistle-blower to be charged alongside those he exposed,..Sabah-based businessman Albert Tei had secretly filmed senior state politicians allegedly soliciting and accepting bribes
2 - The government has taken action against Edisi Siasat [The whistleblower Telegram channel Edisi Siasat has been banned and is no longer accessible.Checks by Malaysiakini revealed that the group, which had nearly 1.18 million members, cannot be viewed.“This channel can’t be displayed because it violated local laws (Malaysia),” a message on the group’s page stated.] - Now, the MCMC or the government ALLEGE that they violated laws - whether they actually did, or not is matter to be determined by Court??) Wonder what 'expose' made the government act?
Online messaging platform Telegram has complied with a High Court order
to stop the spread of offensive material by purported whistleblower
channel “Edisi Siasat”. Checks on Telegram showed that Edisi
Siasat has been blocked this evening, with users notified that the
channel “can’t be displayed because it violated local laws”.FMT was made to understand that this was a result of Telegram complying with the interim injunction issued by the High Court.
* What is happening to Edisi Siasat reminds us what happened to Sarawak Report, who played a significant role in exposing the 1MDB issue...
In 2015, MCMC blocked access to the news blog Sarawak Report after the whistleblower website was deemed to have published content which could threaten national security.The UK-based website had earlier uploaded content about the 1MDB scandal. The
blocking enforced under the administration of former prime minister
Najib Abdul Razak, who is currently serving a prison sentence linked to
the 1MDB scandal, was later lifted in 2018.
In a media report, it was stated that because Edisi Siasat was spreading 'content that could
erode trust in public institutions and threaten social order.'
So WHAT content, Minister Fahmi? And for something that may or may not happen in the future??? ...'could erode trust in public institutions...' - so then similarly it means similar actions could be taken on all Malaysians social media accounts - because it too 'could erode trust...' anytime in the future.
Next, what 'trust in public institutions' - how much trust really remains in Malaysian public institutions today? If it already lost all trust of Malaysians - then why bother about further possible erosion of trust... Trust must be earned, but ...
Threaten Social Order - what does this mean Minister Fahmi? Does this ensuring that Madani Government and PM Anwar remain in power until GE16? What do you mean.
Communications Minister Datuk Fahmi Fadzil and the Malaysian Communications and
Multimedia Commission (MCMC) must IMMEDIATELY inform Malaysians as to what is happening in detail - to avoid confusion.
1 - What was the alleged crime committed by Edisi Siasat? What post? How was it HARMFUL? Was it fake? Which law exactly did it violate - hopefully not that 'very wide can be abused in any situation Section 233(1)(a) of
the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 (“CMA”) which many have called for its repeal)?
2 - Apparently, there was a Court application and a Court Order, and this is GOOD and the right way of doing this compared by arbitrary action by some government department. Courts will evaluate the application and make a legally acceptable order generally. So, Minister Fahmi, tell us what the Court application was all about? Was it a civil suit, and did the government get an ex-parte injunction order(a temporary injunction order after only 1 party(the government) was heard - which means there will soon be an inter-parte injunction soon where all parties[Telegram, Edisi Siasat, etc} will be heard before the court issues a temporary injunction or not) - So, Minister Fahmi disclose the FULL FACTS so that we, Malaysians know the TRUTH. If not, then the media and people may come to a wrong conclusion as to what that order is?? The Minister can issue a Statement, to be placed on the MCMC Website, to satisfy the requirement of TRANSPARENCY... The application and the Court Order/and Judgment must be made accessible to the public...
Hopefully it is not like 1MDB, where the then government, in my opinion, ABUSED ITS POWER to protect the then Prime Minister Najib and Government from crimes committed during the 1MDB scandal - crimes that have seen prosecution and convictions in so many different countries, not just Malaysia..
Malaysian whistle-blower to be charged alongside those he exposed, sparking debate
Sabah-based businessman Albert Tei had secretly filmed senior state politicians allegedly soliciting and accepting bribes
Reading Time:2 minutes
Hadi Azmi
Two Malaysian
lawmakers – along with the businessman who exposed them in covert
videos – have been arrested in Sabah state, anti-corruption authorities
have confirmed, in a scandal that has raised questions over protections
afforded to whistle-blowers.
Sabah,
Malaysia’s second-largest state, is among the country’s poorest and has
long been plagued by corruption allegations, including those linked to
former chief minister Musa Aman, controversially appointed governor
earlier this year.
On
Wednesday, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief Azam Baki
confirmed the arrests of the lawmakers in a major development since
officials reopened investigations following strong public pressure.“Those people will be charged in court this month, maybe [towards] the end of this month, pending court dates,” Azam said.
But
the MACC also confirmed that Sabah-based businessman Albert Tei would
be charged alongside the two assemblymen – who were not named – as he
was not protected by the Whistleblower Protection Act 2010.
Tei
had secretly filmed videos allegedly showing senior state politicians
soliciting and accepting bribes. He shared the videos with news portal
Malaysiakini, which posted them on its platform.
The
footage went viral, prompting denials from the politicians involved,
who accused Tei of releasing the videos as revenge for not receiving
government contracts.
Initially,
the MACC dismissed the videos as inadmissible as they were not directly
surrendered to it and had been edited, but it reopened the case after
public outcry.
MACC
legal and prosecution senior director Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin said
the law clearly stated that anyone involved in the offence they reported
would not be eligible for protection.
“If
a person is involved in the offence in any way, they are not protected
under the Act and therefore cannot be considered a whistle-blower,” he
said. “This is to preserve the integrity of the whistle-blower framework
and prevent it from being misused as a ‘shield’ by those trying to
escape accountability.”
The legacy of Malaysia’s 1MDB scandal on politics and corruption-fighting
Transparency International Malaysia previously said Tei’s situation highlighted that whistle-blowing was rarely clear-cut
and that reforms to strengthen protections for whistle-blowers – who
were often caught between complicity and conscience – were needed.
Under
Malaysia’s current Whistleblower Protection Act, those who approach the
media before going to the authorities are also automatically
disqualified from legal protection. This remains the case even when
disclosures are made in good faith, based on a reasonable suspicion of
wrongdoing and are clearly in the public interest.
“If
we are to genuinely support transparency and anti-corruption efforts,
our laws must protect – not punish – those who take steps to correct
wrongdoing in the public interest,” the NGO’s president, Raymon Ram,
told This Week in Asia. SCMP, 19/6/2025
How the Sarawak Report Broke Malaysia’s 1MDB Scandal
When Clare Rewcastle Brown founded the Sarawak Report
in 2010, it was designed to highlight issues affecting indigenous
communities in Malaysia, such as deforestation and corruption. But it
soon became known for something else entirely.
The site was instrumental in breaking what has been dubbed the 1MDB
story, which earlier this year helped topple Malaysia’s former prime
minister Najib Razak, who has since been charged with 25 counts of money laundering.
Due to her persistent investigations in Sarawak, Rewcastle Brown had
already been banned some six years earlier from entering the state where
she was born and spent her early years.
But the ban simply strengthened her resolve to continue her work.
Pushing Past Security Threats
In 2015, the Sarawak Report was blocked in Malaysia and authorities issued an arrest warrant for Rewcastle Brown for “threatening parliamentary democracy.” She also sought police protection in the UK after complaining she was being stalked.
She says Sarawak Report was also the top digital target for the
Malaysian government, which allegedly hired “millions of dollars worth
of expertise” to disrupt the site.
“You have to do what you can do to fight” the hacking attempts,
Rewcastle Brown says, “as safety of one’s source is the biggest
concern”.
But the security risks have never deterred her.
“I’m effectively a journalist who has taken the opportunity of the
internet to focus on one key story, which was this corruption,” she
says.
“When I started it, I did it as a matter of conscience. It wasn’t a
commercial enterprise in any shape or form, (I started the site) just
because I could see such bad governance, with such amazingly
far-reaching bad consequences,” she says.
Rewcastle Brown and her team of volunteers worked without pay while
investigating the sprawling 1MDB scandal — at a time when no one else
was following it.
But understanding the limitations of a scrappy online outfit, she
offered the information to major media organizations with larger staff
and resources, such as the Wall Street Journal.
Rewcastle Brown details the five-year investigation into 1MDB in her new book, which is going into its third print run after having sold 5,000 copies.
Insider’s Account: Clare Rewcastle Brown’s book is going into its third print run. Image: Courtesy Susan Tam
Staying Afloat Without Cash
With 1MDB issues having been covered extensively, she now plans to
return the platform to its original purpose of filling the void of an
independent press in Sarawak.
The site offers free access and a regular newsletter for subscribers.
She estimates it costs less than $6,500 a month to operate.
After hard-hitting news being censored in Malaysia for so long, a
story on the site can now reach thousands — sometimes up to one million —
views. And the Sarawak Report’s Facebook followers have crossed the 500,000 threshold.
Rewcastle Brown is considering accepting advertisements to supplement
the donations the site receives. When she issues a callout for
donations, she says many respond, some with large sums and others who
regularly give a few ringgit a month.
“It’s been hand-to-mouth, but people have kept it going,” she says.
Rewcastle Brown says Sarawak Report’s exposure of 1MDB demonstrates
the importance of a free press, as it only took a “little source” of
information to expose what the US Attorney General described as the worst form of kleptocracy in history.
“I hope, above anything, that’s what people take away from the 1MDB
story — that they need to protect the press, the media, the freedom of
it,” she says. - Global Investigative Journalism Report
Whistleblower channel Edisi Siasat banned
Published: Jun 19, 2025 7:42 PM
⋅
Updated: 2:26 PM
Summary
Whistleblower Telegram channel Edisi Siasat, with 1.18 million members, is now inaccessible in Malaysia.
MCMC cites the channel’s violations of local laws, echoing its 2015 block on Sarawak Report over 1MDB-related content.
The
commission says Telegram’s inaction on multiple reports prompted its
application for an interim injunction order from the High Court, which
was granted.
ADS
The whistleblower Telegram channel Edisi Siasat has been banned and is no longer accessible.
Checks by Malaysiakini revealed that the group, which had nearly 1.18 million members, cannot be viewed.
“This channel can’t be displayed because it violated local laws (Malaysia),” a message on the group’s page stated.
Earlier today, the MCMC said it had filed a civil action against two Telegram channels, namely Edisi Siasat and Edisi Khas.
The commission had also applied for and successfully obtained an interim injunction order from the High Court to stop the dissemination of content uploaded by the channels.
MCMC
claimed that both channels were identified as spreading content that
violated provisions under the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.
Such content, it said, has the potential to erode trust in public institutions and affect public order.
MCMC
added that the first-of-its-kind action against Telegram, an
Application Service Provider (Class) licensee, came after the platform’s
“serious failure” to address the repeatedly reported content.
Echoes of Sarawak Report
In
pushing for the licensing of social media platforms, Communications
Minister Fahmi Fadzil previously said the measure is needed to combat
the spread of online crimes, including scams, gambling, and child
pornography.
In 2015, MCMC blocked access to the news blog Sarawak Report after the whistleblower website was deemed to have published content which could threaten national security.
The UK-based website had earlier uploaded content about the 1MDB scandal.
The
blocking enforced under the administration of former prime minister
Najib Abdul Razak, who is currently serving a prison sentence linked to
the 1MDB scandal, was later lifted in 2018.
The site became accessible again in May that year, several days after Pakatan Harapan assumed power for the first time. - Malaysiakini, 19/6/2025
Telegram complies with court order, ‘Edisi Siasat’ blocked
FMT Reporters
The
High Court has issued an interim injunction to stop the spread of
harmful content that can erode trust in public institutions and threaten
social order.
The
Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission had filed a civil
suit against Telegram and two of its channels. (Pexels pic)
PETALING JAYA:
Online messaging platform Telegram has complied with a High Court order
to stop the spread of offensive material by purported whistleblower
channel “Edisi Siasat”.
Checks on Telegram showed that Edisi
Siasat has been blocked this evening, with users notified that the
channel “can’t be displayed because it violated local laws”.
FMT was made to understand that this was a result of Telegram complying with the interim injunction issued by the High Court.
Edisi Siasat has, however, already set up a second channel on Telegram.
The Malaysian Communications and
Multimedia Commission (MCMC) had filed a civil suit against Telegram and
two of its channels for allegedly spreading harmful content that could
erode trust in public institutions and threaten social order.
The MCMC said Edisi Siasat and Edisi Khas
were found to have published content that violated provisions under the
Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.
Both Edisi Siasat and Edisi Khas were
anonymous Telegram channels known for publishing whistleblower-style
allegations, particularly targeting public institutions and enforcement
agencies.
Despite being unofficial, their posts often gain traction and trigger public debates.
The MCMC reminded social media platforms
that they have a duty to ensure that the content on their platforms did
not violate Malaysian laws, adding that it would not hesitate to take
similar action against other providers. - FMT, 19/6/2025
MCMC files civil action against Edisi Siasat, Edisi Khas Telegram channels
PUTRAJAYA
(June 19): The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission
(MCMC) has filed civil action against two channels on the Telegram
platform, namely “Edisi Siasat” and “Edisi Khas”.
Both
channels were identified as spreading content that violated provisions
under the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, which has the
potential to erode trust in public institutions and affect public order.
MCMC,
in a statement on Thursday, said the action was the first of its kind
taken against a social media platform provider, especially since
Telegram is an Application Service Provider (Class) [ASP(C)] licensee.
“This
follows Telegram’s serious failure to address the content that has been
repeatedly reported to them, despite various efforts of negotiation and
cooperation made by MCMC,” it said.
Given the
unsatisfactory level of compliance, MCMC said it had applied for and
successfully obtained an interim injunction order from the High Court as
a last resort to stop the dissemination of the harmful content and
prevent the republication of such content.
This action is taken to ensure that the rule of law is upheld and public interests continue to be protected.
According
to MCMC, Telegram will be given due space to present its defence in
line with the principles of justice and fundamental rights.
“MCMC as a
regulatory body would like to remind that all social media platform
providers are responsible for the content published in their respective
digital spaces,” the commission said.