KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 11 – Putrajaya must learn to counter negativity on social media, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz said today amid plans by the government to police the Internet due to alleged abuses by Malaysians.

The culture and tourism minister added that Putrajaya will have to “live with” criticism on social media even if there may be detrimental to the government.

“Of course there are social media posts that speak ill of the government, but we have agreed that social media is something we have to embrace; we don’t have the laws to censor because we’ve agreed that there shouldn’t be any censorship, so we have to live with it.

“If they continue to do things which may be negative, we just have to fight them in the social media,” he said on the sidelines of an event at the National Museum today.

He admitted that Malaysia’s image has taken a beating due to criticism on social media, but insists that not all hope was lost.

“Certainly it has but this still manageable. I’ll be lying to say it’s not affecting us. But this is not beyond redemption,” he said when asked if Malaysia’s image has taken a dive due to social media.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak urged Singaporeans not to allow social media to colour their perception of Malaysia that remains safe and stable.

Last Thursday, newly-appointed Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Salleh Said Keruak revealed that Putrajaya is expected to table new cyber laws in Parliament this October, with proposals to compel online news organisations to register their websites currently being studied.

On Saturday, Salleh cited Singapore as among examples of countries that Malaysia was studying in order to formulate its own laws to govern online media.

Malaysia’s online media currently enjoys relative freedom due to the government’s promise in the 1990s to not censor the Internet and the absence of licensing requirements, unlike that of print media that require printing permits that may be suspended and revoked by the Home Ministry.

Several watchdogs and opposition politicians have said that the regulation of online media may lead to these alternative news sources imposing self-censoring and curtail Malaysians’ rights to freedom of expression and information.