PETALING JAYA – Malaysia aims to strengthen its cyber bullying laws by requiring social media platforms to assume greater responsibility despite challenges posed by language barriers, said Digital Minister Gobind Singh Deo.
“If you provide a platform, you need to make sure that the necessary tools are available to provide a safe environment (to users),” he told The Star on July 27.
On July 5, social media influencer A. Rajeswary, better known as Esha, was found dead after becoming a victim of extreme cyber bullying on social media. She was subjected to threats and abusive language in Tamil.
As a result, police investigated two TikTok accounts suspected of using Miss Rajeswary’s image as the background of video content uploaded in them.
Mr Gobind said the regulators should implement tools that create a safe environment for users online regardless of the languages being used. “They should have thought about this (language barrier) before allowing conversations to gather that kind of momentum on their platforms, which resulted in such serious consequences.
“This is not for them to simply apologise and say they do not have the right tools in place for them to understand the language.
“That is something you need to do before you invite people to use your platform, whichever language it may be and subsequently which could lead to a problem,” he said.
The minister, who is a legal practitioner, stressed that the government must at all times demand transparency and accountability from social media platforms whenever such a case happens.
“The regulators must be able to say that right now, while the social media platform exists and conversations continue on it, the problem is being fixed,” he said.
On July 18, Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil said TikTok has increased the number of moderators to scrutinise content and live sessions in all languages, including Tamil, after the death of Miss Rajeswary.
Mr Gobind also supported the move to refine the law on cyber bullying in the country.
Source link : https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/malaysia-to-toughen-laws-to-crack-down-on-cyberbullying-digital-minister
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Publish date : 2024-07-28 04:04:10
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