Deepfakes, blackmail, and the law: Malaysia’s urgent test

WHEN at least 10 Malaysian politicians across party lines receive threatening e-mails demanding US$100,000 (RM421,100) to suppress AI-generated pornography, the incident is not merely a political scandal. It is a constitutional and legal stress test. ("Another lawmaker targeted by AI-lewd videos")

Our criminal law, designed in the pre-digital era, is being stretched to its limits by the new frontier of artificial intelligence (AI). At present, the police have invoked Section 385 of the Penal Code (extortion) and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 (misuse of network facilities). Both provisions are necessary but insufficient. They punish the means of the act of blackmail, the misuse of communication; but remain silent on the medium itself: deepfake technology that can conjure non-existent sexual imagery.