Najib vs Bloggers

Tuesday May 27, 2008 MYT 4:33:52 PM

Govt to respond to issues raised in new media, says Najib

By SHAHANAAZ HABIB

KUALA LUMPUR: The Government will respond to issues raised in the new media and post replies to the wild and baseless allegations made on blogs and websites, said Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

“We have decided that being quiet and silent is not an option,” the Deputy Prime Minister said during a question and answer session at the Asia Media Summit 2008.

He acknowledged that the Government had overlooked the impact of engaging the new media during the recent general election which was a new dimension in winning over public opinion.

Admitting that the government-of-the-day had not been savvy in engaging new media so much so that it lost out in cyberspace.

“But we live and learn,” he said.

Najib said it was obvious that the Barisan Nasional government would now need to engage the new media.

“We need to have people who are active participants of the new media, who are sympathetic and understanding of the Government’s position.

“Therefore instead of just criticising them (new media) or running them down, the best thing to do is to engage them. Hopefully they will understand our perspective,” he said.

He added these were the two things that the Government had to do immediately in dealing with the realities of the new media.

To another question, Najib said the Government gave the mainstream and new media a great deal of latitude to criticise them “but there is a line which shouldn’t be crossed” because it could undermine the wider interest of society.

He said the media in trying to clamour for wider readership at times exploited or exaggerated certain issues to get higher readership but the cost was injurious and detrimental to social unity.

Answering a question on action taken against blogger Raja Petra, Najib said he (Raja Petra) was charged with breaking the laws of the country and inciting baseless allegations and making seditious remarks.

He said Raja Petra had been free to criticise the Government “very robustly and stridently” in his blog for years and the Government had never taken any action against him.

“But when certain things he said constitute a very serious attack against the institution, the Attorney-General decided that he crossed the line.

“We are not apologetic and we don’t intend to apologise. That is the way things are in Malaysia. We do allow a lot of criticism much more than many countries but there is a line that you can’t cross,” he added.

He said Raja Petra was not jailed for the charge but spent a day or two in jail because he refused to pay the bail.

“Then he realised it was better to be outside jail so he took the bail,” he said, adding even this was paid for through donations raised for him through the Internet.

Other than the new media, Najib said since the general election the established media too had become more and more critical.

“If you read the newspapers on a daily basis, you will see that they don’t hold their punches even criticising the Government. If they know there are weaknesses or abuse of power anywhere, they will latch on to it and criticise the Government and individuals openly,” he added.