KUANTAN – Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah said yesterday that the criticism and mockery of a teacher’s Science lesson in English on the educational television channel DidikTV recently amounts to cyberbullying.
He said the people should take into account that the teacher is not a professional actor and may not have undergone training before the recording was made.
"She should not be criticised for doing her job as an educator... I also think that the Education Ministry (MoE) should not be (criticised) like that because this is a new thing and, of course, there are weaknesses here and there.
"These weaknesses need to be addressed to ensure its content will be improved from time to time," he told a press conference after handing over donations to the parent-teacher association of schools in the Indera Mahkota constituency here yesterday.
Saifuddin said his ministry is ready to offer assistance to the MoE in the preparation of DidikTV content, as the ministry, through the National Film Development Corporation (Finas) has expertise in filming.
Saifuddin also reiterated his ministry's stance that anti-cyberbullying legislation should be introduced as cyberbullying can cause depression or worse, suicidal thoughts.
"We do not know the exact number of cyberbullying victims because they don’t report... either because they don’t know they can or they think there is no action that can be taken if they make a report. We cannot blame them for that.
"We have laws like the Communications and Multimedia Commission Act and the Penal Code, but in relation to cyberbullying, a study by (my ministry) and Multimedia University (MMU) found that more than 80% of legal practitioners think we need specific laws for cyberbullying," he said.
Saifuddin, who is also Indera Mahkota MP, said his ministry is preparing a cabinet paper and has started an initial draft of the anti-cyberbullying bill so that it can be expedited once Parliament begins. – Bernama, February 21, 2021
