ADELINE Chang, one of the two sisters who gained recent online “fame” was fined RM7,000 today after she pled guilty before the Sepang Sessions Court to posting a photograph of a minor online and captioning it with offensive remarks.
Chang or her real name, Chang Pei Yi, 24, made the plea before Judge Ahmad Fuad Othman after the charges were read to her in Mandarin.
She was charged under Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act, which is punishable by up to a year’s imprisonment, a maximum fine of RM50,000, or both upon conviction.
The court also ordered the accused to serve six months in prison if she failed to pay the fine. Adelina Chang paid the fine.
Chang, 24, who claims to be an 'influencer' arrived for her hearing accompanied by her sister, Alice, dressed in a white floral dress.
Earlier, before handing down the sentence, the judge described the actions of the accused as having damaged the dignity of the child and the victim's family.
After handing down the fine in place of six months in jail, the judge criticised Chang for lacking civility, which he said was one of the five principles in the Rukunegara.
The judge said although Chang did not make remarks such as those about race, religion, or royalty, what she wrote about the child was still offensive.
Ahmad also advised Chang not to use personal problems as an excuse to prolong the issue to have long-term effects on other innocent people, which in this case was the child involved.
“Labelling a child in such a way can lead to harmful, long-term consequences,” Ahmad said.
On June 23, the MCMC said in a statement that they had recorded the statement from a Facebook user, whom they did not name, over an offensive post against a child.
The MCMC said this was in response to a complaint about the owner of the "Adeline Chang" Facebook account, who allegedly posted a picture of a child with an offensive caption.
A mobile phone and a SIM card were also seized, said the MCMC.
Deputy public prosecutor Nazrul Nizam Mohd Zameri earlier described Chang’s action as cyberbullying, which he said was magnified by her “influencer” role.
The judge also noted this in his decision.
“As an influencer, you have a wider reach than others. More of the public will see your posts, and they can cause unease, so be mindful of what you're doing," he said. - October 24, 2024
