Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil has voiced his disappointment with the RM100 fine imposed on a woman in the cyberbullying case of late Hindu rights activist and influencer A. Rajeswary, or Esha.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday (July 17), Fahmi said although he was dismayed by the fine's amount, he understood that the penalty was based on evidence gathered by the Attorney General's Chambers.
Fahmi also emphasised that the government needs to review the definition of cyberbullying and set the appropriate penalties for it, and noted that the fine would not be much of a deterrent, given that the offence had led to a person's death.
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Speaking to reporters on Tuesday (July 17), Fahmi said although he was dismayed by the fine's amount, he understood that the penalty was based on evidence gathered by the Attorney General's Chambers.
Fahmi also emphasised that the government needs to review the definition of cyberbullying and set the appropriate penalties for it, and noted that the fine would not be much of a deterrent, given that the offence had led to a person's death.
Read more at https://tinyurl.com/42mce9k3
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NewsTranscript
00:00What do you think of yesterday's court case regarding the fine of RM100 to the perpetrator?
00:16I regret the fine, which is so small.
00:23But I understand that this is based on the evidence that has been collected.
00:31Here, as mentioned by Your Honour Govind Singh Deo, Minister of Digital, Your Honour Datuk Sri Azalina, Minister of Law,
00:41we need to re-examine.
00:43First, for cyberbullying definition.
00:47Second, what is the appropriate fine?
00:51In the second case, we use Section 233, the misuse of network.
00:58The fine is RM50,000.
01:02That is quite significant.
01:05I have studied several comments, including on TikTok, by other influencers,
01:15not only with the fine, but the attitude of the perpetrator,
01:19as if he did not repent for what he did.
01:24In the end, he was believed to have caused the death of another influencer.
01:29I think this is a very wrong attitude.
01:32And I regret it.
01:34I dare say we have to work very hard to strengthen the laws now.
01:41I have also studied how the MCMC has taken action,
01:49including against those who post bad comments,
01:52which violates the law,
01:54in the live session,
01:56whether it is Facebook Live or TikTok Live.
01:58This is a warning.
02:00Many people enter TikTok Live, Facebook Live,
02:04this live session,
02:06and after speaking, as if they are not responsible for what they have said or written.
02:12Recently, I have also studied with TikTok about a trend.
02:19When MPs answered questions in Parliament in the past,
02:26there was a trend where a group of individuals believed
02:32that they were trying to make a word repeated 15,000 times.
02:40So, the trending word at that time.
02:44TikTok has conducted a survey and confirmed that
02:48those who have done this have tried to game the system.
02:53They have used applications that are not allowed by TikTok.
02:59And TikTok has identified all the accounts involved in what we call
03:04Coordinated Inauthentic Behaviour.
03:07Or a planned action to try to create a perception
03:15in this case against MPs,
03:18but it can be used in any circumstances.
03:22So, TikTok has taken a firm action
03:24and closed a number of accounts that are believed to be involved in Coordinated Inauthentic Behaviour.
03:31The MCMC also investigated several Coordinated Inauthentic Behaviour trends
03:39where a number of Facebook accounts wrote
03:45KKMAT won.
03:50This is a wrong action.
03:54Because yesterday we had a meeting of the Chief Ministers
04:01and some views were conveyed.
04:04I cannot fully explain,
04:07but before and after the meeting,
04:11I did not see Hadeh, including Dato' Sisanusi,
04:17stating any view or understanding
04:23why that decision was made.
04:25The judge's decision on the issue in Kedah,
04:29why was it made like that?
04:31I am commenting now from the point of view of Coordinated Inauthentic Behaviour.
04:36There are parties who tried to claim in Aikaroh
04:39that it is not clear why the judge made that decision
04:43which is more related to the relationship between the state government and the PBT.
04:49It is not a substantive matter about Halal and Haram.
04:53That is not the case.
04:54But there are several cyber troopers,
04:57fake accounts that have been identified,
05:00who are now trying to threaten the judge who made that decision.
05:06I give a warning.
05:08We will find you.
05:09The MCMC will make an effort
05:11and we will find those who are committing crimes,
05:15including those against the judges,
05:18and it is not limited to that.
05:21We want to ensure that the internet is safer to use
05:26by all Malaysians, including children and their families.
05:30To ensure that the internet is safer,
05:32we need to ensure that the issue of cyberbullying is handled in a more orderly manner,
05:39with a bigger punishment,
05:41and a clearer definition.
05:44Secondly, in terms of the platform,
05:47they need to help reduce the incidence of Facebook scams, advertisements,
05:56and also Coordinated Inauthentic Behaviour,
06:01such as CIB.
06:03Any other questions?
06:04Wabi, you mentioned an application that was banned.
06:07What kind of application was it?
06:08They used what I call an application,
06:11but it is actually a system.
06:15Half of the people know it as a troll farm.
06:20It means that there is an individual who controls a number of accounts,
06:25and with one command, one code, or one prompt,
06:32all those accounts do one thing.
06:36This is what happens.
06:38This is what we call Coordinated Inauthentic Behaviour.
06:41This has been verified by TikTok to me, to MCMC,
06:46and this has been banned by these platforms.
06:55For more information, visit www.fema.gov