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A survey conducted by Microsoft has shown that most bloggers in the country operate blogs for entertainment and to communicate with family members. The survey, titled 'A Windows Live Report' in August last year, discovered that 63 percent of respondents blog for entertainment and 49 percent blog to communicate with family and friends. Energy, Water and Communications Minister Lim Keng Yaik, in a parliamentary written reply, said the survey showed that only three percent of bloggers are into citizen journalism. "The survey also concluded that political blogs are the least preferred, where only two percent of respondents visit these blogs. On the other hand, 81 percent said they prefer to frequent blogs operated by family and friends," he said. Lim, referring to the statistics derived from a survey conducted by a website based in the US in April, said that out of the three billion websites in cyberspace, 70 million are blogs. "The high number of blogs is the result of technological advancement, which enables anyone with an Internet access to form a blog through various blog hosts," said Lim. He said it is difficult for the authorities to monitor all the blogs to identify those that spread lies. Thus, the government relies on the Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to conduct random supervision based on complaints received from the public. Jail, fine or both He was responding to a query from Salahuddin Ayub (PAS-Kubang Kerian) who asked the minister to state whether the government has identified Malaysian based blogs that spread lies. On the actions that could be taken against bloggers, Lim said: "Section 211 and 233 of the MCMC Act allows actions to be taken against bloggers who misuse the Internet to spread lies and false information." "If convicted, the person can be fined not more than RM50,000 and jailed for more than a year or both," he said, adding that bloggers can also be charged under the Sedition Act and Penal Code. However, Lim said that the authorities have not identified any Malaysian-based websites that publish lies and false information. |
