Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad today said the government would take action against websites that contain pornographic materials or that incite the people to go against each other.

"If the website keeps instigating people to fight because of religious or racial differences, then we would have to take action," Mahathir told reporters at the Malaysian Institute of Islamic Understanding (IKIM) after officiating its radio station IKIM.FM in Kuala Lumpur.

The premier also used the example of a law in Germany which allows the government to take a website to court if it is found to be distributing pornographic material.

He lamented the abuse of the Internet which, he said, should be used to gain knowledge and information.

"Some people have developed the art of Internet abuse and we have evidence that the Internet is being used to distribute misinformation and pornography, which undermines the morals of the society, instead of using it to gain knowledge and information," he said.

Missiles

Yesterday, minister in the Prime Minister's Department Dr Rais Yatim said the government was preparing to upgrade 'missiles' to be launched against websites that threaten national security.

"Due to the government's no-censorship commitment, the initial missiles do not seem to follow the enemy but has ricocheted towards us. However, I assure you, the missile's inventor is not without imagination or recourse," he said.

Last week, Multimedia Development Corporation (MDC) chairman Othman Yeop Abdullah told reporters that Malaysia may be adopting an Internet content code similar to the Australian model.

The MDC was established to to steward Mahathir's multi-billion-dollar brainchild, the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC), and bring in foreign corporations with research and development expertise to propel Malaysia into a knowledge-based economy.

To promote the MSC, the Malaysian government has given its word that there would be no censorship on the Internet, as stated in its 10-point Bill of Guarantee.