The Home Ministry has not decided on a policy governing permits for Internet media.

Its deputy minister, Zainal Abidin Zin, told malaysiakini at the parliament lobby today that Internet newspapers are a new publishing medium and his ministry is still studying whether Internet media would require publishing permits.

"I'll discuss this matter on the need for a publishing permit to be issued," said Zainal when commenting on the Information Department's rejection of malaysiakini's application for press accreditation cards yesterday. The reason given was that malaysiakini does not have a publishing permit. ("[#1] No official press cards for Internet media[/#] ", April 17)

Zainal also said that Internet development is new in the country and his ministry needs to review from time to time this development as Internet media represent an important medium of information dissemination.

"Sometimes, there is an overlap of functions among the ministries, hence they must discuss to arrive an an appropraite decision," Zainal said, with reference to the information ministry's rejection of the official press cards on the ground of the applicant not having a Home Ministry permit.

"Home Ministry only issues permits to a publication that can be clearly held, transported and distributed physically, unlike the Internet," Zainal added.

Regarding the ease of foreign journalists in obtaining accreditation cards in Malaysia, Zainal said that the government required preliminary confirmation from the relevant foreign missions in Kuala Lumpur before giving approval.

Furthermore, the individual journalists have to obtain the Foreign Ministry's approval before their applications can be approved.

Yesterday, deputy director of Press and Public Relations Division, Razali Aziz, told malaysiakini that the Internet news website required a Home Ministry's permit before it could be issued the press accreditation cards.

He added that the policy was not new as all mass media including Internet newspapers must have the permit before they could be given the press cards.

Malaysiakini

yesterday received a letter from the division's director, Resat Salleh, on behalf of the Director-General of Information, that malaysiakini's application for the press cards had been rejected.

Meanwhile, the parliamentary secretary to the Ministry of Energy, Communications and Multimedia, Chia Kwang Chye, said that the government will keep to its pledge that there will be no censorship of the Internet.

He said that there had been some misunderstanding among the public that the ministry was preparing a code of ethics for Internet media. The Ministry is currently working on a set guidelines for website content providers.