KUALA LUMPUR – All Women’s Action Society (Awam) have renewed calls for Malaysia to have strict anti-harassment laws after another Telegram group was exposed for circulating intimate photos of women, among others.
Called V2K, it has 38,000 members who have been lifting and sharing intimate photos of women from social media platforms.
Screenshots of the Telegram chats also showed a user in the group attempted to sell child pornography files for US$75 (RM311).
Telegram is a highly secured and encrypted messaging platform where users can hide their content and identities.
Yesterday, Awam and some of the survivors lodged a report with the Sexual, Women and Children's Investigations Division (D11) at Bukit Aman.
Two survivors told The Vibes that Instagram photos of themselves on holiday were posted by anonymous users on V2K.
“The next day we found out from a friend that those photos were being shared on the Telegram,” a survivor said.
“We hope that the meeting with the police will result in targeted investigations and action against the perpetrators in the group,” said Nisha Sabanayagam, Awam’s programme and operations manager.
This is not the first incident, she said, as similar Telegram groups have popped up twice over the last four years.
“We’ve encountered this before and informed the authorities. But, previous survivors did not want to make an official complaint.”
She said the existence of groups such as V2K strengthens the call for the sexual harassment bill law to be passed.
“It is important to have strict laws to address online sexual harassment.
“That’s why a lot of women groups have been supporting the passing of a sexual harassment law.
“I urge the public to contact their MPs and lobby for the bill.”
On July 22, Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Rina Harun said a sexual harassment bill is expected to be tabled in Parliament by year end.
Gaps in existing laws
Lawyer Teeruvarasu K told The Vibes that the Penal Code, and the Communications and Multimedia Act 1988 are existing laws that address the spread of such content.
“I would advise those in similar situations to first make a police report because Section 292 of the Penal Code states that it is illegal for a person to possess and distribute pornographic material.”
Meanwhile, Section 211 of the Communications and Multimedia Act makes it illegal for people or applications to host indecent content.
“This is why it is prudent to make a complaint to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission because they have the power to take action as well.”
“To file a complaint, the perpetrator must be named.
“Unless the survivors can identify persons in the group, through their phone numbers for example, the authorities won’t be able to take action.” – The Vibes, October 6, 2020
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