The Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) Youth wing has taken to setting up a cyber unit under the party's Information and Information Technology bureaus to clear the air on issues related to government policies.

PBB information chief Abdul Aziz Adenan said the unit, called New Media Unit, would counter the opposition's allegations, besides monitoring its various blogs and websites to clarify issues affecting the people by disseminating the correct information.

"We do not go for character assassination but want to give a clearer picture of government policies to counter the opposition's claims and misconceptions," he told Bernama in Kuching today.

"The setting up of the unit is timely, especially after the state BN retreat at the Mulu National Park in Miri last week where many issues and problems were identified and thrashed out before the next state election is called."

He said in responding to PBB president and Chief Minister Abdul Taib's call, the unit was coordinating the bureaus' main task of maintaining party members' data base and conducting computer training to help disseminate the facts on issues distorted by certain quarters.

He said deputy party president Abang Johari Openg had also called for a PBB cyber unit to monitor the anti-government blogs.

Meanwhile, Sarawak United People's Party Youth chief Sih Hua Tong said the movement would continue to encourage its members to engage in cyber interaction, including through blogs, to "tell the truth about what is happening".

In the recent Sibu by-election, SUPP bore the brunt of the opposition parties, which took a more aggressive approach to win the polls for the DAP, including through cyber warfare.

However, Sih said, members were told not to spin stories to win support as it was good enough to tell the plain truth about government policies and programmes to enable the people to see the other side of the story.

While a lot of surfers had actually toned down their anti-government stance, Internet-savvy BN Youth members needed to target the die-hard ones, who might have their own hidden agendas, he added.

- Bernama