PETALING JAYA: Authorities must act sternly against child pornography and clamp down on paedophiles involved in the sexual exploitation of children, says Wanita MCA.
Wanita MCA chairman Datuk Heng Seai Kie said the revelation by the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry that more than 100,000 Malaysian Internet protocol (IP) addresses were found to have shared child porn was alarming.
“All authorities need to cooperate and clamp down on paedophiles and their networks.
“We urge the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to immediately shut down such IPs or sites known to display and share child pornography and even adult pornography.
“All information gathered should be handed to the police to conduct investigations so that the paedophiles will be apprehended for misuse of telecommunication devices, and processing pornographic materials.
“If the online culprits involve non-Malaysians, the police should hand such information to their overseas counterparts or Interpol.
“Transnational cooperation is needed to quell paedophilia,” said Heng in a statement.
On Sunday, Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Rina Harun said police data revealed that 106,764 Malaysian-registered IP addresses were traced to have shared child pornography from 2017 until August this year.
Citing the case of Richard Huckle, Heng said the country must avoid the emergence of a Malaysian version of the convicted serial paedophile.
She also said parents must monitor what their children were browsing on the Internet, adding that they should install computer safeguards to block access to pornographic sites.
“Parents and guardians are encouraged to have heart-to-heart talks with their children.
“They should be open to any complaints or issues their children raise with them, in particular, uncomfortable or ‘not-ok’ bodily touches or commands by adults.
“Teach our kids to report to their parents or authorities if any stranger on social media or relative requests them to perform undesirable acts like removing their attire, even more so if the perpetrators offer a gift in exchange for such acts.
“But do not scold minors if they complain about any relative or figure in authority who cajoles them into incestuous acts or commits sexual abuse,” said Heng.
She also said that the actual number of people indulging in child pornography was likely to be higher as they could not be traced.
“Similarly, the number of minor victims of sexual offenders would be steeper as not all victims have the courage to lodge a police report, or in cases of incest, their own parents may discourage them from reporting,” said Heng.
She urged victims of child sex abuse or their neighbours to contact Talian Kasih hotline 15999 for help.
