KUALA LUMPUR: The Information, Communication and Culture Ministry and other authorities will intensify monitoring and surveillance of websites and blogs to clamp down on sensitive and seditious postings.

A ministry officer who did not want to be named said they had been monitoring issues long before the existence of blogs.

"Our goal is to gather the people's sentiments on issues and this is not limited to blogs and websites.

"Our concern is the people's opinions but when they cross the line, we will have to report them to the Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission," the officer told the New Straits Times yesterday.

The officer said "crossing the line" included posting seditious contents on sensitive issues to incite anger and hatred.

On Monday, Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said the authorities were monitoring websites and keeping track of postings that touched on Malay sultans, religion and race.

This came in the wake of the action against blogger Khairul Nizam Abd Ghani, or Aduka Taruna, for his posting that insulted the Johor royalty.

Hishammuddin did not disclose the number of blogs under scrutiny.

Federal police Commercial Crime Investigation Department director Datuk Koh Hong Sun said video sharing website YouTube was among those monitored by a team of Bukit Aman police daily.

"Apart from YouTube, we have also identified several blogs and bloggers."

Koh, however, refused to give details, saying it would jeopardise investigations.

Universiti Kebangsaan Ma-laysia School of Media and Communication Studies (Faculty of Social Science and Humanities) Associate Professor Dr Faridah Ibrahim said bloggers must be careful about their choice of words.

"Their first duty is to inform without any ulterior motive and they have to make sure they have no malicious, de-famatory and seditious elements in their blogs.

"They have to regulate themselves and must be responsible for each posting on their sites," she said when contacted.

Faridah said it would be tough for the authorities to monitor blogs and websites.