Alternative media is not untouchable - Ahmad Shabery

The alternative media are not as untouchable as the public might think they are, Information Minister Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek said Tuesday.

As such, he said, even though the people had the right to write whatever they wish through blogs and other online media, they could still be subjected to actions under the law if they spread slander online.

"People think that the alternative media could do what they want. This is not true. Recently there were cases against some of these bloggers," he told reporters after launching the First International Journalism Fellowship organised by the Malaysian Press Institute at the University of Malaya here.

Ahmad Shabery also said that the government had the responsibility to protect others from untruths and slander.

With technology available today, cyber forensics would be able to trace and detect the identity of online writers or slanderers even though they might use the anonymity of the Internet or a different name as a shield, he said. Contd...read here

(Most bloggers are responsible for what they write. I think bloggers who post "lies" and "untruths" should be hauled up. But it is unfair to lump them all together. However, if you may recall, YB Datuk, some of the "untruths" which bloggers have been accused of have turned out to be true. There have been cases when credible bloggers - like him - have broken and uncovered important stories which the msm failed to do (read this, this, and this ), and succeeded in mobilising public opinion and support for their cause (read here). Need I say more? )