The government has been urged to educate the people on the importance of media literacy in understanding any issue that may arise.

The Mind Development Institute (Inmind) chief executive officer Norizan Sharif said this was important in efforts to inculcate a culture that utilised the media in a prudent and responsible manner.

He said that in the context of using the social media, an individual not only received information but also wrote articles.

"The weakness prevailing in the country as well as in many other places is that the government develops the information infrastructure and information technology without equipping the people with media literacy.

"Internet accessibility in our country has reached 18 million people... this is an encouraging achievement but despite this success, there are no efforts made towards achieving media literacy," he said when interviewed on the 'Program Kerusi Panas', produced by Bernama Radio24.

At the same time, Norizan also suggested that the existing newspapers gave wider space for articles written by bloggers instead of quoting certain phrases only.

- Bernama