At The Dewan Rakyat
Reports by ZULKIFLI ABDUL RAHMAN, FLORENCE A. SAMY AND ELIZABETH LOOI
The Star
BLOGGERS using locally hosted websites may be asked to register with the authorities, Deputy Energy, Water and Communications Minister Datuk Shaziman Abu Mansor said.
He said registration was one of the measures the Government was considering to prevent the spread of negative or malicious content on the Internet.
Shaziman said this while winding up the debate on the motion of thanks on the Royal Address for his ministry.
He added that the ministry did not have any problem with bloggers who identified themselves, and he welcomed blogging activities.
However, he said there were about 50,000 websites registered under the .my suffix and there were a lot of avenues for anyone to host websites with malicious content which could harm the country’s security.
Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang, who interjected when Shaziman was speaking, said the negative comments of several ministers about bloggers reflected their lack of understanding about information flow in cyberspace.
“They should be educated on the vast benefits of blogging, which will help them to interact more with the people. Many politicians overseas already have their own blogs,” he added.
Asked to comment on the matter, Johor Baru MP Datuk Shahrir Abdul Samad said bloggers were very aware of their own ethics and responsibility for content on their sites.
While agreeing that there were bloggers who had inflammatory content, he said unidentified bloggers could still be traced through their website addresses.
He added that the problem was also about inflammatory comments by unidentified visitors to the blogs.
Ahirudin Attan of Rocky’s Bru said the move to compel local bloggers to register was effectively the Government trying to control what Malaysians were writing online.
“This violates the Government’s no-censorship policy with regards to the Internet,” he said.
He added that the move would just create fear among the bloggers and would encourage them to host their blogs overseas.
Marina Mahathir, a blogger and activist, said the Government really should “get real.”
She said the move “is just going to make Malaysia look ridiculous in the eyes of the world.”
Blogger Jeff Ooi wondered why the Government was pursuing this course of action.
He said the Government had already set up the Content Forum to deliberate on complaints by any party.
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I don’t know, This is the most stupid, idiot and moron idea i have ever heard. This is quiet sad for Malaysia. We have incompetant, pathetic leaders like this Datuk Shaziman. Someone can pse check his background. Does he knows that internet is boarderless? Bloggers can write anything range from sports, lifestyle, politics, dinings, travel and even porn, this is what i mean boarderless. And it’s a choice for them to openly declared who are they, or just being anonymous.
What the goverment concerned is most blog criticised them. Well as Malay pepatah said ‘kalo x ada angin, masakan pokok bergoyang’. Well, we all can feel the rise of the living cost (barang naik, minyak naik, toll naik, tapi gaji tang tu jugak). So, most of the blog, the popular one like Malaysia-today, Ahirudin-Attan, and Jeff Oii, critised the goverment openly, and this is what they are afraid of. But lets face the fact here, it’s all well written, so i don’t want to elaborate further. Furthermore, i’m not political oriented or nor do i interested in the politics.
These are the opinions from the public taken from the Star newspaper. I have highlighted some of the important points, for you guys to take notes.
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The Star
Some called it unbelievable. Others described it as ridiculous. Many felt it would only be a waste of time.
The Star Online readers were near unanimous in objecting to the proposal being considered by the Government to register bloggers whose sites are hosted locally.
Dozens gave their feedback online, and many were incredulous.
“I think such a move is unwarranted, misguided, ill advised, unproductive and just plain downright unbelievable,” said one reader. (you have hit the jackpot!!)
Many felt that Malaysians were mature and intelligent enough to come to their own conclusions on the content found in local blogs.
“Are we so stupid that we cannot differentiate between what is true and what is not? This practically violates a person’s right to information,” argued 23-year-old Kavilan.
Said blog owner Notes FromVenus: “We run a women’s blog portal and it is a space where Asian women can openly share with each other, a community space promoting charity and women-related events, but also an open platform for us to share our thoughts on current events affecting us.
“I believe in self-regulation. We’re all responsible adults and would like to be treated that way. Our site generally believes in non-censorship but we will step in where there is a need – so far, no incident has called for it.”
Other readers were concerned that a move to register bloggers would be unfair to blogs that dealt with non-provocative content.
“Don’t label all the blogs as being negative, simply by reading just a few.
“There are thousands of blogs on the very mundane – don’t you think it would be absurd to have to register with the ministry just so to post a recipe for Rendang Tok or Blueberry Cheese Cake?” said 28-year-old Ahmad Faisal.
Said Salbiah of Petaling Jaya: “Malaysians are not so naive as to believe everything they read.
“Not only did we have to register our prepaid numbers, but now even our blogs. I absolutely disagree.”
