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On Friday last week, its users in Malaysia reported that the popular publishing platform had been blocked

On January 22, Medium’s Malaysian users reported that they had been blocked from accessing the popular US-based publishing platform Medium. Upon entering the site, they were greeted with a message stating “This website is not available in Malaysia as it violate (s) the National law (s)”.

So, what is the deal here?

Well, apparently, this may have been a consequence of Medium’s non-compliance to a request made by the Malaysian government.

You see, Malaysia-based alternative news platform Sarawak Report (which is banned in Malaysia) has been evading censorship by posting on Medium. The Malaysian government seemed content to let it pass, until they posted an insider report on the ongoing 1MDB investigations.

So, last Wednesday, January 20, the government decided that Sarawak Report had crossed the line, requesting that Medium take down that offending post saying it was “false, unsubstantiated, misleading” and in violation of Malaysia’s laws.

It alleged that claim in the post stating the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) “recommended 37 separate charges against Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Najib Razak involving the SRC international case” is false.

Medium’s response? In short, it was a “no”, at least, until the government provided a copy of the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC)’ assessment of the offending article, as well as a copy of MACC’s official statement that the post is untrue.

The next morning, the block took effect. Medium has so far yet to receive a response from the government. Despite this, Medium has remained defiant, stating that it “stands by investigative journalists who publish on Medium”, and will only take down posts if it receives an order from a court of “competent jurisdiction”.

The block may not have lasted for long however, as user “Creatix Tiara” reported that she could access the site from Malaysia today. e27′s correspondent Kevin McSpadden also confirmed that it was accessible after switching to a Malaysian VPN.

We will keep our ears to the ground for further updates.

The post Medium refuses Malaysian government’s takedown request appeared first on e27.

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