KUALA LUMPUR: The government is looking to study regulating artificial intelligence (AI) apps through licensing to curb the production of child sexual abuse materials (CSAM), says Datuk Fahmi Fadzil.
The Communications Minister said that the AI apps are currently not licensed by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC).
“We are looking at whether there is a need for enforcement by licensing so that appropriate actions can be taken concerning CSAM materials (generated by AI).
“We can do it, but now the focus is on those who are sharing, misusing and sending such lewd or grossly offensive materials, which is an offence under the law.
“We do have the authority, but we haven’t reached that point yet, but it (is essentially) doable,” he told reporters after launching the Internet Safety Day at Taman Tasik Titiwangsa, here on Sunday (Feb 8).
Also present were Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) chairman Tan Sri Mohamad Salim Fateh Din, the ministry’s secretary-general Datuk Abdul Halim Hamzah and deputy secretary-general (telecommunication infrastructure and digital economy) Mano Verabathran as well as Kuala Lumpur mayor Datuk Fadlun Mak Ujud.
Recently Unicef stated that at least 1.2 million youngsters have disclosed having had their images manipulated into sexually explicit deepfakes in the past year, according to a study across 11 countries conducted by the UN agency, international police agency, Interpol and the ECPAT global network working to end the sexual exploitation of children worldwide.
As such, it called governments to expand definitions of child sexual abuse material to include AI-generated content and criminalise its creation, procurement, possession and distribution.
Additionally, the Centre for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) estimated that Elon Musk's Grok AI generated about 3 million sexualised images in two weeks, including 23,000 depicting children.
The situation has been described as disturbing by its Chief Executive Imran Ahmed, adding that "until regulators and lawmakers do their jobs and create a minimum expectation of safety, this will continue to happen.”
Following this, the MCMC blocked Grok temporarily on Jan 11 while ordering it to introduce safeguards in compliance with the laws.
The chatbot was reinstated on Jan 23.
