‘Platforms to be held accountable’

Digital Minister: Govt to toughen laws in efforts to crack down on cyberbullying

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia aims to strengthen its cyberbullying laws by requiring social media platforms to assume greater responsibility despite challenges posed by language barriers, says Gobind Singh (pic).

“If you provide a platform, you need to make sure that the necessary tools are available to provide a safe environment (to users),” the Digital Minister told The Star in an interview yesterday.

On July 5, a social media influencer, A. Rajeswary, was found dead after becoming a victim of extreme cyberbullying on social media which contained threats and abusive, obscene language in Tamil.

As a result, police investigated two TikTok accounts suspected of using Rajeswary’s image as the background of video content uploaded in them.

Gobind said the regulators should implement tools that create a safe environment for users online regardless of the languages being used.

“They should have thought about this (language barrier) before allowing conversations to gather that kind of momentum on their platforms, which resulted in such serious consequences.

“This is not for them to simply apologise and say they do not have the right tools in place for them to understand the language.

“That is something you need to do before you invite people to use your platform whichever language it may be and subsequently which could lead to a problem,” he added.

The minister, who is a legal practitioner, stressed that the government must at all times demand transparency and accountability from social media platforms whenever such a case happens.

“The regulators must be able to say that right now, while the social media platform exists and conversations continue on it, the problem is being fixed,” he said.

On July 18, Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil said TikTok had increased the number of moderators to scrutinise content and live sessions in all languages, including Tamil, after the death of Rajeswary.

Gobind also supported the move to refine the law on cyberbullying in the country.

The digital era comes with new challenges such as collecting evidence on online abuse cases, he said.

“I agree with Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reforms) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said that there is a need for us to specifically define cyberbullying and online abuse in order to tighten the law in these areas.

“This would enable us to make specific provisions to allow evidence to be used to prove a case against a person,” he added.

Gobind also said digital literacy is critical as he is on a mission to encourage the public to integrate more digital advancements in their lives.

“And when I do this, I must be in the position to say that the users are secure. It may not be 100% foolproof, but there are laws that will protect them and take their case to the court,” he said.