Centre of Independent Journalist (CIJ) executive officer Masjaliza Hamzah said they viewed any online licensing effort as a means to control online media and stifle dissenting opinions.
She said CIJ and the University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus carried out a media monitoring exercise of the 13th general election coverage and found that online news portals performed the best, giving approximately equal quantities and quality of coverage to Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat.
"CIJ believes a key contributing factor is that online media, unlike its print and broadcast counterparts, has more room to practise independence and fairness in reporting because it is not regulated, said Masjaliza.
She said any form of online censorship, even indirectly through licensing, would curb access to information via media portals, currently the choice of urban, young and middle-class reading public.
"We hope the minister's suggestion to study how online media can be regulated is not another step to teach Malaysians a lesson in voting for PR collectively more than for BN," said Masjaliza.
Masjaliza said there was no reason for Malaysia to copy Singapore's move due to the republic's poor standing in world press freedom rankings.
"Online media is strongly supported by netizens, even for portals which require subscriptions.
"They are a source of news not just for those in Malaysia but also from the international community. Any form of licensing imposed on online media will be strongly opposed by civil society."
Masjaliza said the Information and Communications Culture Ministry was one of two bodies responsible for upholding MSC Malaysia's Bill of Guarantee No 7: "To ensure no censorship of the Internet" is respected.
However, Umno Youth new media unit chairman Tun Faisal Ismail Aziz said following Singapore's example was a logical step.
"It makes sense because online news portals are like newspapers in that they have journalists and editors.
"They should be registered and if they are registered, they should get the same rights and protection as newspapers."
He pointed out that if news portals were not registered, they were no different than bloggers, which were less protected.
"If an ordinary blogger writes something slanderous without sources they can be sued, but journalists can choose not to divulge sources," he said.
Tun Faisal Ismail recommended that online news portals voluntarily register themselves for this purpose.
by Hamzah Nazari
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