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Malaysia will not curb Internet news - Deputy PM

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian government will neither curb information flow on the Internet nor introduce laws to prevent the public from getting such news, Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said on Saturday.

"We understand and appreciate the right to disseminate information through cyberspace, Internet and such facilities," Abdullah who is also Home (interior) Minister was quoted as saying by the national Bernama news agency.

Deputy Home Minister Chor Chee Heung raised eyebrows on Thursday when he was quoted as saying that restrictions on the Islamic Party's newspaper Harakah would be extended to its Internet edition.

But Chor said on Friday press reports quoting him as saying the government would take action against Harakah if its Internet edition were published more than twice a month were incorrect.

"It is the government's policy not to censor publications and materials on the Internet and this policy remains steadfastly in place," Chor said.

The Home Ministry renewed on Wednesday the annual publication permit of Harakah, a popular newspaper owned by the opposition Parti Islam se-Malaysia (PAS), on condition it is published twice a month from twice weekly.

The government controls annual permits of printed publications through a colonial-era law that critics say breeds a timid mainstream press.

Abdullah said that whatever conditions imposed on newspapers only applied to the printed version and not the Web site of various newspapers on the Internet.

"However, when defamation occur on the Internet, action will be taken on the person or persons responsible in accordance with the relevant laws on defamation," said Abdullah, who is also deputy chairman of the National Information Technology Council.

He said the existing laws on defamation were adequate to deal with the problem.

Harakah's sales skyrocketed last year ahead of general elections in which PAS tripled its seats in parliament and wrested a second state from Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's coalition. -Reuters