News portals and other websites in Malaysia now will have to double-check their readers’ comments before uploading them, according to a lawyer.

Senior counsel Malik Imtiaz Sarwar today said that this was due to today’s Federal Court judgment that fined Malaysiakini RM500,000 for contempt of court due to readers’ comments.

Malik, who appeared for Malaysiakini today, said the important takeaway from today’s landmark decision was that portals which host third-party comments now need to be responsible for those comments.