Ministry responds to Tracking Rais

ARCHIVES 2009

By admin-s On Oct 3, 2009

(The Nut Graph) Note from The Nut Graph

Surprise! The government has actually responded to a column published in The Nut Graph. The Information, Communications and Culture Ministry responded today to Tracking Rais, which took a critical view of some of minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim’s public statements.

The article, written by Deborah Loh in her column, Sideways, had looked at the reach of government-attempted censorship of the internet and entertainment, the pace of technology rollout, and treatment of opposition-led states. The statement, issued by the ministry’s corporate communications unit and emailed to The Nut Graph, was to clarify the minister’s position on some of the points raised.

What’s heartening for The Nut Graph is the fact that this ministry noticed and responded when silence is usually the norm with regards to other articles far more critical and on graver issues. A few examples are the stories about the Penan rape report and the difficulty that opposition Members of Parliament face in gaining access to federal funds. It’s a small but positive step that some arms of the government are at least attempting to listen and respond to public opinion, even if the content of the response is to defend itself.

Below is the statement in full from the ministry:

Dissemination of information and internet filters

The Information, Communications and Culture Ministry is aware that with the advent of the new media, the people can get information from various sources and mediums. The ministry is very concerned that some information disseminated through the new media may not be true or accurate and that will result in the people being misinformed.

What the minister [Datuk Seri] Dr Rais Yatim meant by saying “the right kind of information” is that the people should get information from reliable sources to ensure that the information is true and accurate. On the other hand, accurate, true, fair and responsible reporting should be observed by writers and content providers. They must adhere to the Malaysian laws and restrain from reporting sensitive and seditious issues.

The minister is concerned about the extent of undesirable contents [on] the internet that the young population is exposed to, in particular pornography. When he mentioned about “internet filter”, he was referring to the filtering of child pornography to safeguard the young and vulnerable population.

Broadband rollout

The ministry is confident that Malaysia will meet its target of achieving 50% broadband penetration by end of next year (2010). So far, the results have been positive. As of April 2009, penetration was 26 %. It will reach 30 % by end of 2009. The remaining 20% will be achieved by [the] end of 2010.