Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Minister Abdul Rahman Dahlan today said all BN elected representatives should consider taking legal actions against news portals if they felt that they have been defamed by any report.

As BN strategic communications director, Abdul Rahman said he is looking to extend the existing team of lawyers in Umno to all BN representatives.

"To all YBs and ministers, if they think they have been defamed and news portals are not keen on retracting or fixing the story, then legal action should be taken.

"It is one of the options that must be considered," the Kota Belud MP told reporters after speaking during a forum in conjunction with the Malaysian Social Media Week Summit in Cyberjaya.

Among others, Abdul Rahman had in his speech singled out an online portal which he said "always like to use voxpops as headlines".

"It is not always nice to do that because sometimes when people comment, they do it without much consternation.

"I find that to be irresponsible," he said, without naming any names.

A fine line

In urging netizens to accept nothing online as the gospel truth, Abdul Rahman said he had personally taken to social media in order to counter allegations against him.

"When emotions overrule good sense, I find myself on my Twitter timeline engaging all and sundry. Sometimes I win, sometimes I burn," he said, citing public outcry over his purported advice on waking up earlier to avoid tolled roads.

Abdul Rahman also pointed out that he had sued the online portal for allegedly spreading half-truths based on his remarks.

While there have been mounting concerns over a perceived crackdown on the internet, Abdul Rahman earlier told the forum that the government is "not interested" to do so.

"If given the choice, the government is not interested to regulate the internet. We know it is an archaic, futile exercise.

"But when push comes to shove, to not do anything is also unacceptable," he said, adding that there is a fine line between mere mocking and outright, baseless allegations.

Abdul Rahman himself has filed a lawsuit against Malaysiakini over a report on his remarks on reverse migration.

The video report was based on a straw poll based on Abdul Rahman’s remarks on reverse migration.

The minister claims Malaysiakini had edited the video and taken his remarks out of context.