SHAH ALAM: Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Dr Ting Chew Peh assured cybercafe operators that the relaxation on rules governing Internet censorship would not be replaced with other restrictive regulations that may hamper business.

"As announced recently, free roaming on the Internet in cybercafes is allowed without any censorship, monitoring or tracking on the part of the government agencies. "The relaxation will not be replaced with additional new restrictions on the operations of cybercafes," Dr Ting said yesterday.

He said with the new directive, a ministry regulation issued last year to check the misuse of the Internet and the spread of false information had been revoked. This included the need for operators of cybercafes to record the particulars of their customers, which no longer applied, he said.

Dr Ting said his ministry would be issuing a circular to local authorities in a few days to explain and give directives regarding the free roaming in the Internet in cybercafes. Dr Ting, however, reminded cybercafe operators of their social responsibility to customers.

"The cafe operators should do their part to advise customers, especially youths, to stay away from smut sites," he said. "Cybercafes serve the nation's agenda to create a computer literate society. However, we must curb undesirable actions such as viewing pornographic sites or using the Internet to spread rumours," he said.