Malaysia's Mahathir defends bloggers
 Photo: AFP |
Mahathir, who in recent months has complained he was being censored by mainstream media, said people were turning to blogs and online news journals because of Malaysia's tightly controlled media.
"There is no doubt that bloggers have provided us with an alternative source of news. By and large, they have been responsible," Mahathir said after speaking at a conference on the media and national development.
"At the moment, with the atmosphere prevailing in the country, many people are turning to the bloggers for news," he said.
"That is what the government should learn, if you suppress news then the alternative source will gain credence," said the former leader, whose daughter Marina has her own blog.
The comments from Mahathir, criticised for suppressing press freedoms during his 22-year tenure, come amid unprecedented defamation suits against two well-known bloggers by the government-linked New Straits Times Press.
Mahathir said certain measures were still needed to control press freedom, but they should not be abused just to stop criticism of the government.
"In Malaysia, when I talk about the press, people keep saying 'in your time you were worse', but I say I wasn't that bad," said Mahathir.
"As far as I'm concerned, it is worse (now). If I say certain things that are critical, it may not get published. This is unhealthy," he said.
Steven Gan, the co-founder and editor of Malaysiakini.com, Malaysia's first online news journal, lauded Mahathir's realisation of the value of alternative news sources.
Malaysiakini was banned from government press functions and had its offices raided during Mahathir's administration.
"I just wished that he would have said the same thing when he was prime minister," Gan said.
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