Not a simple matter: Tough acts against pornography

SHAH ALAM - Bukit Aman Sexual, Women and Child Investigations Division (D11) principal assistant director Assistant Commissioner Siti Kamsiah Hassan said websites and platforms known to provide pornographic content has been blocked by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC).

This, she said, was among the measures taken to overcome pornography addiction in Malaysian society.

She added that restrictions were also made based on reports from certain agencies that detected pornographic websites.

She said these sites were usually detected from viral issues as well as cases reported to the police involving children.

"They are immediately blocked by MCMC,” she said.

Commenting on sexual crimes involving children, Siti Kamsiah said parents must play a role in monitoring the content they consume as well as educating them on the matter.

"If the child is given a gadget at the age of five, then the parents must play their roles in educating the child on their surrounding environment and what could happen.

"In this digital era, parents must know how to monitor them suitable with current times and developments,” she said.

Pornographic addiction, she said, has a grave impact not only on individuals and members of society but also on a global scale as it can change the landscape of crimes across the world, also known as transnational crimes.

Siti Kamsiah added that sexual crimes also have a psychological impact.

"There is a tendency for those who like to watch pornographic material to be addicted to it, leading them to act on it in real life.

"Not only that but they can also be easily exploited and manipulated to carry out the acts.

"If these sexual acts become a daily routine or practiced, especially by the children, it will be accepted as something normal and part of their culture growing up,” she said.

Creating, sharing and selling pornographic content is a crime under Malaysian law, she said, and can be charged in court.

"If parents or the community, in general, are able to detect children or underaged minors in general who is addicted to pornography, they are asked to come forward and lodge a police report so we can trace the perpetrator and also rehabilitate the victim,” she said.

Siti Kamisah equates pornography addiction to drug addiction that must be stopped, adding that society needs to play a role in stopping this from escalating further and destroying the country’s future.

The laws that can be used in regards to pornographic material are: