I WRITE in support of the letter, “These men are only hurting women” (The Star, Feb 8). The writer, Suzianah Nhazzla Ismail, stated her concerns about “a disturbing surge in social media content created by men who portray themselves as women.”
Besides her point that “These portrayals not only insult the intelligence and dignity of real women”, there is also the danger of perverts, predators and scammers hiding their real identity and targeting the young and naive.
The solution is to make it both impossible and illegal to hide real identities. Only properly registered users providing their real names, sex, age and identity card numbers should be allowed to use the various platforms available online, and they must be accountable for their posts.
The responsibility to implement this lies with the platform creators and administrators, who should face punitive action if their users are found to be using false identities.
Strict action should also be taken on those posting false information about the items they advertise online.
We are constantly bombarded with false advertisements backed by convincing video clips, and the advertisers cannot be contacted when the buyers wish to return the goods purchased.
It is indeed shocking how brazen and daring these advertisers are in Malaysia. An example is the so-called “portable air conditioner”, which is nothing more than a simple fan.
Cyber laws must be strengthened and punitive action effectively taken on both the users and administrators of the various platforms online.
Wide publicity has to be given after the punitive action is taken, and real names must be exposed as not only must justice be done, it must also be seen to be done.
DR PETER J. PEREIRA
Selangor
