Deputy minister denies bias in government punishment of errant bloggers

The Information, Communications and Information Ministry had blocked access to 1,435 offensive websites from January to August this year. - Reuters pic

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 29 — A deputy minister today denied that Putrajaya has only clamped down on anti-Barisan Nasional (BN) bloggers and websites, insisting in the Dewan Rakyat here that all errant internet users, regardless their political leanings, would face similar punishments under the law.

Without offering a specific breakdown of statistics, Datuk Joseph Salang Gandum told the lower House that the Information, Communications and Information Ministry had blocked access to 1,435 offensive websites from January to August this year.

“The enforcement of law is not biased... it does not choose who to accuse, or who these blogs write about.

“Believe us... the ministry and the enforcement authorities do not take sides, and we only take appropriate action in cases where offences are indeed committed,” he said during Question Time this morning.

The Julau MP was responding to a question from Tan Seng Giaw (DAP-Kepong) who had accused the government of only taking action against errant anti-BN bloggers.

“What about blogs that aim insult at say, MPs like Ipoh Timor (Lim Kit Siang) or Permatang Pauh (Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim), what steps are taken to solve these problems?” he asked.

More to come