PUTRAJAYA: The collaboration between the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and the Royal Malaysia Police continues to be strengthened to combat the misuse of network services for online child sexual exploitation.
Communications Minister Datuk Seri Fahmi Fadzil said MCMC, as the technical agency, would continue to play an important role in assisting the police, especially the D11 Division (Sexual, Women and Child Investigation) of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), in tracking down those who misuse network services and subsequently bringing them to justice.
“The MCMC’s role is to ensure that anyone who misuses network services can be traced, arrested and brought to justice, especially those who prey on children and women,” he told Bernama and RTM after attending the Communications Ministry’s “Jasamu Dikenang” ceremony here yesterday.
Fahmi said the collaboration also involved technical and forensic aspects to assist police investigations into online child sexual exploitation activities.
On Tuesday, Bukit Aman CID director Comm Datuk M. Kumar said eight teenagers, including a 13-year-old, were among 53 individuals arrested for suspected involvement in activities related to child sexual abuse material (CSAM) under Ops Pedo 3.0 conducted recently.
The suspects were detained in simultaneous operations from Sept 14 to 16 following joint intelligence gathered by the CID’s D11 unit and the MCMC.
During the crackdown, police detected the production, distribution, and sale of CSAM-related videos and animations through closed online groups, with materials offered for between RM50 and RM60.
Meanwhile, Fahmi said the MCMC was also prioritising social media safety through the legal framework governing online safety.
“Through the Online Safety Act, we are also emphasising to social media platforms the need to ensure that the environment or platform itself remains safe, especially for women and children, notably those below the age of 16 who are not allowed to open social media accounts,” he said.
