COMMUNICATIONS Minister Fahmi Fadzil has called for cyberbullies who harass and humiliate social media users to be dragged to court to face the full brunt of the law.
He also said that the matter had been brought to the attention of the Prime Minister whereby the Cabinet will on Friday (July 12) discuss stricter enforcement and consider making amendments to existing laws to ensure cyberbullies pay dearly for their actions.
This was in light of the tragic death of social media influencer and activist Rajeswary Appahu (known as Esha on the social media circle) on Friday (July 5) after being subjected to relentless trolling and bullying on TikTok.
Fahmi had attended Rajeswary’s funeral on Sunday (July 7). Rajeswary was found dead at her apartment a day after she lodged a police report on Thursday (July 4) of death and sexual assault threats made by cyberbullies.
Luluh hati seorang ibu melihat jasad anaknya tak bernyawa.
Rajeswary Appahu, 29 tahun, telah mengambil nyawanya sendiri selepas dipercayai tertekan akibat dibuli beberapa individu dengan komen-komen jelik di TikTok.
Saya amat kecewa dan marah dengan apa yang berlaku.
Mereka… pic.twitter.com/GWbI3AwjoP
— Fahmi Fadzil 🇲🇾 (@fahmi_fadzil) July 7, 2024
She claimed she was trolled and harassed in a live session with threats and vulgarity by an individual on TikTok who also used her photo and made serious threats against her.
Stringent action
Rajeswary’s elder sister Susila called for sterner action on cyberbullying on social media platforms, adding that her late sister was harassed horrifically on the TikTok platform until she emotionally broke down and could no longer bear the mental stress.
Meanwhile, Sentul OCPD Asst Comm Ahmad Sukarno Mohd Zahari said a 35-year-old woman was arrested at 1.45am at the Bukit Beruntung Golf Resort yesterday (July 8) and remanded for two days to assist investigations.
JUST IN : Police have arrested a 35 year old women at 1:45am last night.
🔴 This is regarding a 29-year-old female influencer Rajeswary (Esha) who was found dead in her home on Friday pic.twitter.com/zgGLcEdKtk
— Elill (@Elill_E) July 8, 2024
He said the arrest was made following a police report lodged on Saturday (July 6) by a 39-year-old man who had come across two TikTok videos allegedly containing profanities, threats and defamation against Rajeswary.
Although the posts had subsequently been removed, the complainant had provided screenshots to the police.
This tragic case highlights a few pertinent issues.
Firstly, social media has caused a paradigm shift in many areas. It has greatly altered the way Malaysians communicate and how business is conducted.
More pertinently, it has opened up many more avenues for marketing, advertising and promotions with social media influencers emerging the new ‘gurus’ of this new landscape. However, one needs to tread with caution. There are always repercussions to what is posted on these platforms.
Secondly, as suggested by Fahmi, stricter laws need to be drafted to punish those who use social media to post slander, libel and intimidating content. Not to curb free speech or muzzle dissenting political opinions but to tackle problems posed by cases such as the above.
Thirdly, social media’s reach is vast and potentially limitless. Similarly, the blowback from netizens can be hugely damaging with severe ramifications.
As one social media influencer with legal knowledge commented on Fahmi’s tweet, “the time has come for identity verification to be carried out with several parameters to ensure that everyone knows that they will be responsible for every disgrace of their moral values on social media!” – July 9, 2024
Main image credit: The Star
