Former information minister Zainuddin Maidin has rubbished his former boss Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's claim that he lost the online battle for BN in 2008, causing the coalition to lose its two-thirds majority in the general election that year.

Instead, the former journalist blamed Umno minister Khairy Jamaluddin for the weak showing, reported Free Malaysia Today.

Zainuddin said the media at that time was controlled by the "Fourth Floor Boys", and he was powerless to do anything.

The "Fourth Floor Boys" was a term used to refer to a group of young professionals led by Khairy, the son-in-law and then adviser of Abdullah, while he was prime minister.

The former chief editor of Utusan Malaysia said he had full control of the media during Dr Mahathir Mohamad's era, but this changed during Abdullah's administration.

"My power was limited to RTM (during Abdullah's era). Even though I tried to take control of other areas, I was not shown respect because the 'Fourth Floor Boys' were in control," Zainuddin was quoted as saying.

Abdullah had claimed in his biography titled 'Being Abdullah Ahmad Badawi', released on Monday, that Zainuddin's rejection of social media caused BN to suffer a setback in the 2008 national polls.

Zainuddin was described as part of conservative faction that was satisfied with its control over mainstream media.

However, Zainuddin said he made a lot of effort to interact with social media players, but acknowledged that his relationship with them was not always cordial.

"I also hit out at the social media players as they were too unrestrained and did not follow instructions. I criticised them, but I never controlled them," he was quoted as saying.

Khairy used the media controlled by the Fourth Floor Boys to attack Khairy's enemies and friends, including him, he said.