The National Union of Journalist (NUJ) noted that this "draconian action" only serves to restrict civil discourse.
"The Home Ministry, in both its recent show cause letter and today's notice of suspension, had not identified specifically the offending articles which were deemed to have been harmful to national security," NUJ president Chin Sung Chew said this in a statement on behalf of NUJ Malaysia.
Chin added that the Home Ministry must spell out clearly how The Edge Weekly and The Edge Financial Daily are deemed a threat to national security.
"We are of the view that both publications had published articles related to 1MDB with public interest in mind. As 1MDB is a GLC, the rakyat has a right to know the ongoings within 1MDB.
"Both The Edge Weekly and The Edge Financial Daily had also published rebuttals from both government spokepersons and 1MDB," he said.
Chin said the media has a public duty to inform, and should not be discouraged from playing an active role in highlighting issues of public and national interest.
"The suspension of both publications can be construed and perceived as a clampdown on media freedom. Malaysia has always tried to put in place good governance and transparency, and this action only serves to reverse the good work done in the past," he said, alleging that the country's image to the international community will also be affected by this action.
Meanwhile, the Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) said that the government's move to censor a newspaper in this manner was a breach of freedom of expression and media freedom in particular.
"To justify such a serious and extreme measure, it is wholly insufficient for the Home Ministry to merely make sweeping, general claims about prejudice to public order, security or alarm. It must specify exactly how The Edge's reporting on 1MDB would jeopardise public order or security," CIJ directors Sonia Randhawa and Jac Kee said in a statement issued today.
It added that The Edge appears to have revealed information about alleged fraud involving billions of ringgit in a government-owned investment corporation.
The CIJ said that muzzling The Edge under these circumstances only leads to more questions on the management of 1MDB.
Meanwhile, Gerakan Media Marah (Geramm) said this latest move appears to be a clamp down on the media, via printing licenses issued under the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984.
"We reiterate our call for the government to abolish the PPPA as there are existing legal recourse to be taken in the event of any disputes over a published report, as well as to follow global democratic best practices.
"At the same time, Geramm also notes that there are moral and ethical questions, following The Edge's admission that it had obtained information through 'dubious' means," it said in another statement.
It pointed out that the emails reportedly obtained illegally by Swiss National Xavier Andre Justo from his former employer PetroSaudi International in relation to funds supposedly misappropriated from 1MDB, which the publication agreed to purchase but then weaseled out of paying.
With this in mind, Geramm maintains that the media should have the ability to investigate matters of public interest, that would otherwise not see the light of day.
"The Edge also maintained that it had independently verified the material Justo provided via independent data forensic experts, prior to publishing its reports.
"Since The Edge had denied tampering with the documents and investigations are still ongoing with no conclusive findings, Geramm believes that the Home Ministry had acted in bad faith against The Edge," it added.
It was reported that the Home Ministry had stated that the two publications' reporting of 1MDB were "prejudicial or likely to be prejudicial to public order, security or likely to alarm public opinion or is likely to be prejudicial to public and national interest".
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