Cyberbullying: Govt to study drafting new law - Fahmi

KUALA LUMPUR: The government will examine the need for a future-proof new law to deal with cyberbullying incidents, the Dewan Rakyat was told today.

Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil said this law, among other things, needs to focus on changes in communication mediums in the future and to suit current needs.

He said this was one of the matters discussed in the Cyberbullying Issue Meeting which he and the Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Legal and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said, Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail and Digital Minister Gobind Singh co-chaired, yesterday.

He said this in response to Ahmad Fadhli's question about the government's initiative in enacting specific laws involving cross-ministerial collaboration to deal with incidents of cyberbullying during the Minister's Question Time.

According to him, among the existing laws related to cyber bullying are Sections 503 and 509 of the Penal Code, which are criminally intimidating offences and words or gestures intended to humiliate a person's honour; as well as Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 which is improper use of network facilities or network services and others.

"This is one of the examples of existing provisions that can be used to deal with offences related to cyberbullying, depending on the form of bullying," he said.

Earlier Bernama reported that influencer A Rajeswary, also known as Esha, was found dead in a condominium unit in Setapak on July 5, a day after making a police report regarding the cyberbullying she faced.

The owner of a welfare home P. Shalini, who was linked to Esha's death, was however only fined a maximum of RM100 by the Magistrate's Court here on Tuesday, after pleading guilty to the charge of deliberately uttering abusive words through the alphaquinnsha TikTok account with the aim of inciting anger to disturb the peace.

In the meantime, Fahmi said that apart from the issue of cyberbullying, there are actually many other issues related to social media platforms, including fraud (scams) and online gambling, which Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and the Cabinet are of the opinion that these platforms cannot wash their hands of the problems.

"So there are many things that we ask these platforms to fix immediately. I see that there is a need to take more decisive action, this is also something that we in our Cabinet are looking into and God willing we will take more decisive action," he said.

Meanwhile, Fahmi also requested the help of members of Parliament to ensure that children under the age of 13 do not have social media accounts, in line with the requirements of all social media platforms that also do not allow such groups to do so.

"Unfortunately, these platforms themselves are indifferent in verifying the age of the intended account owner.

"So I am asking for the help of honourable members, let us together ensure that our internet is not only faster and more widespread, but also safer for our children and families," he said.

-- BERNAMA

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