The seller, identifying as local, has over 800 followers with 21 listed products and a six-year history on the platform. — KAMARUL ARIFFIN/The Star
PETALING JAYA: An unscrupulous seller has allegedly been using a popular ecommerce platform with a presence in the country and in South-East Asia to distribute access to child porn material.
The seller is offering links to a Telegram group that peddles child porn material.
The issue was highlighted by Adil Hidayat, who made the post on the Pendakwah Teknologi Facebook page, saying that he was alerted about it by another user.
When contacted by LifestyleTech, Adil, who is urging authorities to look into the matter and take action, shared screenshots showing that the invite to the group was being sold for RM39.99.
As of press time, it has been purchased 20 times.
The seller, identifying as local, has over 800 followers with 21 listed products and a six-year history on the platform.
Adil said he made the purchase to verify the claim was true so he could alert the authorities, adding that the seller got in touch with him and shared an invite to a Telegram group.
The seller’s only question before sharing the invite was if he knew what the group was for.
Within the Telegram group, Adil claimed to have seen child porn material, adding that the group admin also provided access to other porn groups in Telegram.
The group that Adil was given access to has 35 members with a "VIP Club" profile photo.
"It's really disturbing, just RM40 for unlimited access," he said, adding that he is willing to cooperate with the authorities to provide evidence.
Ecommerce platforms use a blend of human moderation and artificial intelligence to block such listings; however, sellers often resort to employing specific keywords or codes to evade detection.
He added that he made the posting on Facebook hoping to put a stop to the group's activities and tagged the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM), and Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil.
LifestyleTech has reached out to all three entities and the ecommerce platform for comment.
