The government is scrutinising all articles published on the news website malaysiakini and will not hesitate to take legal action if the reports create racial tension or compromise national security, the Home Affairs Ministry said today.

National news agency Bernama reported Deputy Home Affairs Minister Chor Chee Heung as saying that his ministry was monitoring the malaysiakini website closely to ensure that all articles it published did not encroach on the cultural and religious sensitivities of Malaysia's multi-racial society.

Chor said, however, that this did not mean the government was opposed to press freedom, adding that the media had the freedom to publish as the people had the right to be informed.

He was responding to a question in the Dewan Negara from Senator Che Jam Harun, who had asked what steps are being taken by the government to clarify the issue of malaysiakini, especially in terms of security and transparency of the media in Malaysia.

Chor said the government also monitors other publications and said their licences would be suspended if they encroach on local sensitivities.

Drafting laws

Last Saturday, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Dr Rais Yatim stated that the government was in the process of drafting laws that would punish individuals who use the Internet to create public disorder and incite violence.

Rais added that the present Printing Presses and Publications Act does not include the Internet.

Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad had guaranteed that the Internet would not be censored as part of his promises to the Multimedia Super Corridor project (MSC), thus giving rise to the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, which states that the Internet will not be censored.