(Malaysian) Bloggers beware!

Just look at this sequent of events:

First, last Saturday (Dec 2), Deputy Information Minister Zahid Hamidi said it was the duty of the mainstream media (MSM) to fire-fight wild allegations and slanders spread through the internet and blogs.

He went on to say that bloggers must be ethnical and responsible in their writings. He added:

“They should have ethics ... everyone have ethics and self-respect. We hope the bloggers will also have ethics and self respect.” (read bernama report here)

Then on Sunday (Dec 3), Deputy Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Kong Cho Ha said that one way to stop cyberspace writers from spreading disharmony and lies was to be ‘stricter’.

He said:

“We need to have stricter cyber laws to prevent these bloggers from disseminating disharmony, chaos, seditious material and lies... We are talking about creating cyber laws to control those who misuse the Internet”. (read the Star report here)

And then today (Dec 4), Information Minister Zainuddin Maidin said bloggers must uphold the tenets of journalism as they had a great influence in moulding public opinion. Bloggers have the same responsibility as the MSM.

He reminded us:

“This responsibility cannot be compromised for the sake of short-term popularity and gains”. (read the bernama report here)

Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang has no compunctions at all - he sees this as a prelude to a possible “strategy to impose a clampdown on the Internet and blogs”.

And he had a question of his own:

“When will the government-controlled media stop their unethical, dishonourable and irresponsible practices of hurling wild allegations and falsehoods against the Opposition and dissenting opinions?” (read his blog entry here)

Looks very unlikely, especially now that Umno will have a bigger control of the media with the impending merger of Utusan and NSTP.

Read more about the merger here and here.