Khairy Jamaludddin has lauded his boss Najib Abdul Razak over the latter’s decision to sue news portal Malaysiakini .

Tweeting his response, the Umno Youth chief said it was about time that the news portal is hauled to court.

He said if the mainstream media publishes lies, then it deserves to be sued and the same rule applies to online portals as well.

"Before you say MSM (mainstream media) also gets sued, that's the price of journalism. About time for Malaysiakini ," he tweeted.

Commending the prime minister, the youth and sports minister said: "Good that PM being aggressive with libel suits against Malaysiakini ."

"Freedom of speech does not mean freedom to lie or publish lies," he added.

Meanwhile, senior lawyer Ambiga Sreenevasan said that the suit is not a good move for a national leader.

However, the former Bar Council president said, it is Najib's right to seek redress.

"I don't think it (is) good or advisable for a PM to sue press. But it's his right to do so.

"And he cannot avoid going into the witness box," she said on Twitter.

Najib (left) served Malaysiakini with a writ of summons this afternoon over readers’ comments published by the portal.

The writ and statement of claim was delivered by hand to the news portal at its Bangsar office.

Named as defendents are Malaysiakini publisher Mkini Dotcom Sdn Bhd, editor-in-chief Steven Gan and chief editor Fathi Aris Omar.

Co-claimant in the suit is Umno executive secretary Abdul Rauf Yusoh.

The claimants claim that the compilation of readers' comments in two "Yoursay" articles published on May 14, namely "A case of the PM reaping what he sows" and "How much will Najib spend to keep Terengganu?", were defamatory.

Previously, Najib said the legal action against Malaysiakini did not signal a crack down on the media.

Najib, Umno sue Mkini over readers' comments