Technology has indeed confounded even the most assiduous censors. While the government holds true to its dark reputation of keeping the media on a short leash with a coterie of repressive laws, it has nevertheless decided not to do the same with the Internet. That, if we were to believe Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and Energy, Communications and Multimedia Minister Leo Moggie. Both had reiterated last week that the Net would be free from government control.

Such no-Net-censorship stance should be applauded. True, this is not because the government has suddenly become more open to political dissent. On the contrary, it has no choice but to leave the Net alone. The reason is simple. Censoring the Net would mean cutting off our lifeline to the future. After all, the Internet will soon shape the way we do business, learn, work and play.

The Information Ministry's new team of quick-reaction officers to counter what it called rumours, lies and slanders against the government is no doubt a better alternative to censoring the Net. Indeed, the government is fast realising that it can no longer claim a monopoly on information, despite its ham-fisted control of the mainstream media.

Before this, the government can turn a blind eye to issues of public concern because the mainstream media failed to adequately convey their views. No longer. Now, there is the Internet. And the faster the government reacts, the better. Take Mahathir's holiday "mishap" in Argentina. The government could have quashed such online "rumours" immediately. Instead, it had let them festered until it was too late.

Interestingly, rumours in Malaysia have the tendency to reflect, if not the truth, then at least part of it. While Mahathir might not have fallen from a horse in Argentina, at least someone did. The victim, said the government, was not Mahathir, but a close member of his entourage. No wonder, a lot of Malaysians give much credence to such "rumours".

The same goes with sacked deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim's black eye. News on the Internet that former police chief Abdul Rahim Noor was the alleged culprit appeared long before a commission of inquiry was asked to investigate the assault.

Take also the rumours of News Straits Times chief Kadir Jasin's downfall. That piece of news made the rounds for weeks until it was recently confirmed that the media boss was no longer in charge. Still, this was ignored by the mainstream media, earning them yet another black eye in their already sullied credibility.

Ironically, while the pro-reformasi websites are taken to task by the mainstream media for spreading "rumours" of Mahathir's horse-riding ability, the technologically savvy opposition party, KeADILan, is also finding itself a victim of the same weapon it is so closely associated with.

Over the past week, a number of postings have appeared on the Net criticising KeADILan's No. 2 Dr. Chandra Muzaffar. He was said to have a tiff with party president Azizah Ismail and Youth chief Ezam Mohd Noor. This, however, was strenuously denied by Ezam, who blamed, yes, Umno for spreading the rumours. But talks of frictions within the top leadership of KeADILan are not new. Indeed, the postings are more likely the work of disgruntled members unhappy with Dr. Chandra's leadership.

The problems that both the government and opposition are facing with the Internet only go to show that this new medium is now a significant, if not major, player in public discourse. True, the number of Malaysians who are hooked up to the Net is still small, perhaps no more than 10 per cent of the population. But their numbers are growing rapidly. And politicians can ignore it at their own peril.