[6] While Malaysian politics takes up a big part of its content, the portal has in recent times been focusing on other topics of interest including the state of the economy, property, education as well as legal and social issues.

In archiving its web pages, the United States Library of Congress notes that the site "includes coverage of [the Malaysian territories of] Sabah and Sarawak (Borneo).

FMT also has an RSS Feed, with approximately 168 posts/week, according to the "Sabah Media" blog [7] In 2018, Eliza Ezzauddin Hussein, on the Communication and Media Studies faculty of Universiti Teknologi Mara in Malaysia, did an academic study of the readers of Free Malaysia Today ("FMT") and its principal rival, Siakap Keli ("SK") -- based on a survey of approximately 400 readers of the two outlets' Facebook sites.

[8] Throughout the election campaign in April and May, its dedicated microsite was a popular medium for breaking news stories, with correspondents placed nationwide reporting on activities by all political parties.

[9] The FMT editorial policy emphasises balanced reporting and neutrality, although it takes some strong stands on issues of public interest.

Its editorials have often criticised politicians from both sides of the divide while taking a stand on controversies including the "fake degree" saga involving a deputy minister in the Pakatan Harapan government and the death of a tahfiz (Islamic school) student in April 2017.

[10][11] In May 2017, a year before the general election, it openly urged Pakatan Harapan to announce Mahathir Mohamad as its prime ministerial candidate, setting off a string of criticism on social media with many questioning the website's objectivity.

12 civil society organisations including Amnesty International Malaysia, the Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ), TENAGANITA, Suaram and Sisters in Islam described his lawsuit as an attack on media freedom.

The country's four main TV stations and leading newspapers have long been heavily dominated by ownership of, or affiliation with, BN and its coalition.