Malaysia Today was launched about two weeks before Anwar Ibrahim's release from prison on 2 September 2004.
[1] On 27 August 2008, the Malaysian government blocked the Malaysia Today website,[2] allegedly in response to unspecified reader comments related to a 16 January 2008 article.
[3] The censorship was lifted on 12 September 2008, but Raja Petra Kamaruddin was arrested under the ISA (Internal Security Act) on the same day.
He was freed on November 7, 2008, after Shah Alam city High Court Justice Syed Ahmad Helmy Syed Ahmad granted his habeas corpus petition, ruling that his 12 September detention was illegal.
This change led to a sharp decline in credibility and readership, with many questioning the reasons behind his U-turn.