Online news portal The Rakyat Post will be ceasing operations until further notice effective today.

The news portal's management announced on its Facebook page after a meeting with the staff today.

“Over the coming months we will be undergoing restructuring and looking at solving our funding issues.

“Once again, from everyone on the editorial team of The Rakyat Post , we thank you for having stayed with us,” the Facebook post said.

It added that at its peak, the portal was the third most viewed website in Malaysia on mobile and the 13th most viewed on desktop according to digital measurement and analytics company, comScore.

“This would not have been possible without the support of our valued readers,” it said.

Sources from within the organisation had earlier told Malaysiakini that they were informed by the management that the news site had run into financial difficulties earlier this month.

It is understood that employees were last paid on Jan 7 for their December salaries.

Following this, employees were told to go on paid leave starting Feb 11, while the Mandarin desk staff began their paid leave on Feb 15.

The Rakyat Post began operations in October 2013, and became popular for reporting viral news and becoming one of the fastest growing news portals in the country.