The Malaysian government has said it will not censor bloggers but says they must be careful what they write.
"We do not censor the internet and that's our policy, but they [bloggers] must understand that there are also laws on defamation and sedition, for example," Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, the prime minister, said on Tuesday.
"These laws are enforced. They should bear in mind that they cannot hide and they cannot take advantage of doing something against the law," he said.
"And if you want freedom, what is freedom without responsibility?" he asked. "Freedom without responsibility is anarchy."
Abdullah was responding to a question on legal suits for alleged defamation filed by the state-controlled New Straits Times Press and four of its senior executives against two popular blogs, Screenshots and Rocky's Bru.
Malaysia has been criticised for restricting debate and free expression, but the government, as it made a push into the information age in the 1990s, promised not to interfere with online content.
The New Straits Times Press sued Jeff Ooi for defamation over 10 postings on his blog, Screenshots.
It filed a similar lawsuit against Ahirudin Attan over 50 comments on the blog, Rocky's Bru.
A Malaysian court will hear applications for an injunction against Ahirudin on Thursday, and against Ooi on January 30.