Freedom of the press and opinion

Malaysiakini – Going online for freedom of the press and freedom of information

In Malaysia, the Foundation works with Malaysiakini, an online platform founded by Premesh Chadran and Steven Gan in 1999. Prem and Steven dreamed of freedom of the press in their country, where television, radio and printed media were strictly controlled by the government for decades. This prompted the two to go online: with news, streaming TV and apps like “Undi Power”. This FNF-supported app was nominated for the “News Data App of the Year Award” by the Global Editors’ Network. Undi Power shows voters how much weight their votes carry in parliamentary elections. This matters because constituencies are gerrymandered: candidates in the rural areas, which have traditionally been loyal to the government, need far fewer votes for a seat in parliament than those in cities where the opposition is popular. That trick stopped working on 9 May 2018, when the opposition won for the first time since Malaysia’s independence. Now Prem and Steven will remind the government of an important
campaign promise: freedom of the press.