[JURIST] Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi [official profile] said Tuesday that the Malaysian government would not compel bloggers to register [press release] with the state, noting that existing laws and regulations were sufficient in case action needs to be taken against those who "cross the limits" by posting false information online.

Last week, Energy, Water and Communications Deputy Minister Shaziman Abu Mansor and Information Minister Zainuddin Maidin suggested that bloggers whose websites are hosted on local servers should be required to register with the government as negative or malicious postings could harm national security. The Malaysian New Straits Times newspaper recently filed a defamation suit [blog post] against bloggers Ahirudin Attan [blog] and Jeff Ooi [blog] for posting allegedly libelous remarks about the newspaper's editors and executives. The London Times has more. The International Herald Tribune has additional coverage.