PETALING JAYA – Malaysia is set to strengthen its cyberbullying laws by imposing greater responsibility on social media platforms, Digital Minister Gobind Singh announced on July 27. This move comes in response to recent incidents of severe online harassment, including the tragic death of social media influencer A. Rajeswary, known as Esha, who was a victim of extreme cyberbullying involving threats and abusive language in Tamil.
“If you provide a platform, you need to make sure that the necessary tools are available to provide a safe environment (to users),” Gobind said in an interview with The Star. He emphasized that social media platforms must implement tools to ensure user safety, regardless of language barriers.
The death of Esha, found on July 5, has prompted police investigations into two TikTok accounts suspected of using her image for abusive content. Gobind criticized social media platforms for not having adequate tools to monitor conversations in different languages, stating, “This is not for them to simply apologize and say they do not have the right tools in place for them to understand the language.”
Gobind called for greater transparency and accountability from social media platforms in such cases, urging regulators to ensure ongoing issues are promptly addressed. Following Esha’s death, Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil announced that TikTok had increased the number of moderators to scrutinize content in all languages, including Tamil.
Supporting the move to refine cyberbullying laws, Gobind highlighted the challenges of collecting evidence in online abuse cases and the need for specific legal provisions to address cyberbullying and online abuse. “I agree with Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reforms) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said that there is a need for us to specifically define cyberbullying and online abuse in order to tighten the law in these areas,” he said.
Gobind also stressed the importance of digital literacy and assured the public of their security online, despite acknowledging that no system is entirely foolproof. “There are laws that will protect them and take their case to the court,” he said.
In a related effort to combat scams, cyberbullying, and sexual crimes, Malaysia announced that social media services with more than 8 million users in the country must apply for a licence starting August 1. The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission stated that legal action would be taken against non-compliant services by January 1, 2025.
Earlier this year, Malaysia reported a sharp increase in harmful social media content and urged firms, including Facebook parent Meta and TikTok, to enhance platform monitoring. Currently, the communications regulator can flag content that contravenes local laws to social media firms, but content removal is at the platforms’ discretion.