The case surrounding the late Esha, a content creator who had taken her own life following defamatory statements and threats of injury, rape and murder made against her on social media has opened up quite the conversation about cyberbullying.
This comes especially after the influencer arrested in the case had pleaded guilty and only received a RM100 fine, leading Communications Minister, Fahmi Fadzil, to share his disappointment over the matter and calling for stricter laws to be implemented.
Now, Fahmi is also pointing out how no one should ever have to endure cyberbullying, including Ministers and politicians as Ministers have complained about being the victim of cyberbullying too!
During this morning’s (July 18) Dewan Rakyat session, he said, “Firstly, I would like to guarantee that no one should be a victim of cyberbullying. No one.”
“For example, Members of Parliament or Ministers complain about being cyberbullied, and we seem to belittle (their complaints). We should not normalise cyberbullying and this warning I give to everyone, no one should be a victim of cyberbullying. No one. It doesn’t matter if they are from this side (government) or that side (opposition), or those who are not part of any parties.”
This image is for illustration purposes only.
His second point is that many believe that they can make comments as they please on Live sessions, as they believe their comments will get drowned out, but that shouldn’t be the case.
Fahmi then assured that MCMC and PDRM are working together to identify those who make wrongful comments on Live sessions.
This comes after Pasir Mas MP Ahmad Fadhli Shaari questioned Fahmi on how the authorities are drawing the line between freedom of speech and cyberbullying as opposition politicians and supporters have become the victims of cyberbullying.
You can check out the Dewan Rakyat session here (fast forward to 19:30 for the cyberbullying discussion):
What do you think about this? Do feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section.
Also read: 2 Journalists Allegedly Threatened by the Same Cyberbullies Involved in the Late Esha’s Case
