M'SIAN PM NAJIB ALLOWS PUBLIC ACCESS DESPITE ABUSE OF HIS ONLINE PLATFORMS

KUALA LUMPUR, July 29 (Bernama) -- Prime Minister Najib Razak said Friday he
would continue to allow the public access to his online communication platforms
although they have experienced serious abuse over the past weeks.

He said he arrived at the decision in the spirit of having open and direct
communication with the people.

"Over the past weeks, there has been serious abuse of my online
communication platforms, most noticeably on Facebook," he said, adding that it
would not be fair to deny many Malaysians the opportunity to interact with him
because of the irresponsible acts by a few.

"As it stands, I have over 800,000 Facebook ‘likes’ and close to 170,000
followers on Twitter. Even at the time of writing, I observe that more
Malaysians have stepped up in support of civil dialogue and posting constructive
comments. Do keep it up.

"I hope we as Malaysians can demonstrate responsible, respectful behaviour
while commenting online," he said in his latest post on his blog.

In recent weeks, Najib's Facebook page had come under serious abuse by
people who posted negative comments against him and the the ruling Barisan
Nasional (National Front-BN) government.

Many of the abusers seem to be supporters of the Coalition for Clean and
Fair Elections (Bersih) as their profiles bore the Bersih logo and the colour
yellow.