IN TWO days, the contempt proceedings against Malaysiakini and its editor-in-chief Steven Gan will commence at the Federal Court.

Malaysians far and wide will be watching how events unfold with bated breath, for the effects of this court case will cause ripples across the nation for a long time to come.

Let’s not be fooled into thinking that whatever happens to Malaysiakini stays in a bubble and wouldn’t affect the rest of us.

It will, far more than we can even begin to realise.

To give some perspective, our Federal Court is the highest court in the land and also the final appellate court.

Its position at the top of the judicial hierarchy has grave ramifications on the outcome of this case on various fronts.

For one, once it passes a ruling, whether just or otherwise, that ruling becomes a binding precedent that has to be followed by all other courts.

The only instance in which courts can break away from a Federal Court ruling is if the Federal Court itself chooses to review and overturn its own decision.

These powers are completely discretionary. Needless to say, such instances are incredibly rare.

What does this mean? This means that should either party be unhappy with the outcome of the case, there is no further avenue nor opportunity for appeal.

It is absolutely final, and could be particularly detrimental to the defendant, who will be permanently stuck with the decision.

Therefore, the fact that the attorney-general intentionally chose to prosecute Malaysiakini at the apex court from the get-go is very significant.

It is also no less significant that the A-G initiated these proceedings, even though the news portal had removed the five comments in question long before it was sued.

Should the Federal Court rule that Malaysiakini is responsible anyway for its readers’ comments, this would overturn existing law that does not require websites to moderate readers’ comments.

Inevitably, such a ruling would also open the floodgates for many more similar cases as media companies can now be sued even if they have already removed their readers’ comments. 

This great departure from existing law would mean that such organisations will have to start actively censoring every single comment that lands on all of their platforms.

As this is obviously not physically or financially viable, especially for news giants whose channels are constantly flooded with comments, these organisations would have to find a solution that somehow does not break the bank or break the law.

What this would look like in practical terms can only remain to be seen.

But one thing’s for sure, the right to freedom of speech of ordinary social media users would be more heavily curtailed than before.

Not to mention, instead of being able to focus on reporting news that matters, news outlets would instead be weighed down by the highly time-consuming process of comment moderation.

Yet, more than that, such a court decision would send a powerful message to the media industry and wider community that any published material deemed provocative or insulting even in the slightest could subject them to police investigations, court cases, or both.

This is a terribly far cry from what press freedom looks like.

Malaysia is not a police state, and it has always taken great pride in considering itself a vibrant democracy.

However, in light of the new government’s intensifying crackdown on freedom of speech and freedom of expression, what is our beloved country turning into? – July 12, 2020.

* Lara Ling reads The Malaysian Insight

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.