KUALA LUMPUR – Reports of pornographic posts through “dark side” Twitter accounts are being referred to police for further action, the Dewan Rakyat was told today.
Deputy Communications and Digital Minister Teo Nie Ching revealed that the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) had received a staggering 1,282 related complaints from 2022 to February this year.
“MCMC has taken action against all these complaints, including referring them to police for their attention,” she said during her ministry's Budget 2023 winding-up speech at the committee stage.
“Any further action will be under police jurisdiction.”
Teo added MCMC has also reported 222 Twitter accounts that were found to have uploaded lewd content to the platform provider, and noted that these accounts have since been permanently taken down.
She was responding to questions raised by MPs during their debates earlier pertaining to the growing number of “dark side” accounts on Twitter.
This is in reference to Twitter’s seedier underbelly, where people use “dark side” alter ego accounts to express and display their sexual desires, post explicit content, and promote illegal Telegram channels and groups.
It was reported previously that the matter has been under police attention since 2020.
On a separate matter, Teo said a proposed amendment to the Personal Data Protection Act 2010 will, among other things, mandate data users to appoint data protection officers and ensure penalties that are more appropriate for crimes to the extent of a data breach.
She said a bill proposing the amendments will be tabled in Parliament once it is ready, but stopped short of providing a timeframe.
“I acknowledge that there is room for improvement in protecting personal data. For example, in 2019, there was a case against Malindo (Air) which concluded in 2021.
“Despite Malindo being involved in a data leak involving RM1.7 million, the compound issued was a meagre RM37,500.” – The Vibes, March 23, 2023