Defamation laws are incredibly important to protect individuals and organisations from false and harmful baseless statements. They help to curb falsehoods that could influence public opinion or even business markets. However, what happens when these defamation laws are abused by big corporations to prevent the public from holding them accountable? What if they hide behind defamation laws while exploiting workers? What if they use it to prevent people from speaking out? 

Recently, Mohanarani Rasaiah (Rani) from Parti Sosialis Malaysia penned an article highlighting the troubling rise of defamation suits being used to silence activists and marginalized communities. She detailed how four ongoing lawsuits target their work advocating for farmers, cattle herders, migrant workers, and security guards—all of whom were merely seeking justice for labor rights violations and land evictions.

In this episode, Rani joins us to discuss all of this and more.

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