Politically-motivated Blogs Must Be Monitored And Registered

SINGAPORE, April 6 (Bernama) -- Information Minister Datuk Seri Zainuddin Maidin Friday lent his weight to a proposal to register blog sites, especially those which are politically-motivated.
He said the mainstream media were subjected to registration, monitoring and specific laws, and as such, there was no reason why the same should not apply to blog operators.
"We must know who they are. So there must be laws that will facilitate their identification," he told reporters here.
However, he said, the need to register blogs with entertainment and social commentary contents might not be as great as politically-motivated ones.
"When people involved in politics want to use blogs for their political interest or when blog operators are politically-motivated, we have to know who they are.
"Politics is meant to gain influence among the people, politics is meant to obtain power. When it comes to power, it's the people who are in control.
"When the people use the power, they'll have to identify themselves. They are dishonest if they hide themselves when talking about politics," he said.
Zainuddin said in the quest for political power, people were willing to resort to slander, disseminate lies, use unauthorised sources or choose not to verify the source of the information.
"This is very dangerous as they are writing and taking steps to gain power. Their objective is to topple the government, widen the reach of their political doctrine and assist any parties for political purposes," he said.
Zainuddin said he concurred with the monitoring and registration proposal forwarded by the Energy, Water and Communications Ministry.
Zainuddin discussed the blog issue and how the island republic was approaching the matter in a meeting this morning with his counterpart, Information, Communications and the Arts Minister Dr Lee Boon Yang.
The Malaysian minister said Singapore had formulated a mechanism for the registration of blogs which consistently churned out articles on politics.
He pointed out that Singapore had a class licensing framework to supervise new media forms such as blogs, subjecting them to certain code of ethics under the supervision of the Media Development Authority.
A class licence involves the gazetting of the terms and conditions of a particular industry, and anyone who provides the services within the scope of the class licence will be deemed to have read and agreed to the terms and conditions, and would be considered licensed.
Zainuddin felt that the method implemented by Singapore was practical and it could possibly be modified for use in Malaysia.

tunku : this minister went to singapore to learn how to control blogs,i guess. he's trying to follow singapore which is a undemocratic country though it's a democracy country. just see how the jailed the opposition leader who talks against them.mr zam,you are a changed man now compare to last time, but that's different story. as a anonymous blogger i do not seek for power or seeking political gain nor trying to be a politician or to topple the government. i just blog for myself. what i think is right i express it, it's open to discussion, anyone who don't agree can give their comments, not like the government, any MP have any different view are not allowed to speak, if they speak they will be suspended.i don't see any freedom in the government.some of us (the blogger) are from the ruling party like myself but we are not hypocrites. if we don't agree with the leadership we voice out as only thru the internet are voice are heard. the mainstream media had blacked out our voices.if you talk good about the government then only they will publish it.just imagine our former prime minister concerns are blacken out, what about ordinary people like us.if the government is doing right thing we support it but if not then we will voice out as we are not coward public or "yes sir" type.same goes with our leaders,they are not the untouchables that no one can say anything to them.as for bloggers there are 2 types, one who blogs with responsibility and the other one without, so let the public decide whom they want to trust.again i repeat if you(the government) have done nothing wrong why worry.i guess if all the bloggers are with the government then the government won't suggest this registration thing.be brave government, if you are in the right path, AFRAID NOT.you can answer any allegation.the only thing is when you are in the wrong side and can't answer, then you people will use your POWER try to shut it up.