The Malaysian Insight

A LAW governing internet use will be tweaked, said a minister following a teenager’ suicide after being egged on by “followers” on her social media account.

The Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 (CMA) will be amended to deal with and prevent similar incidents which occurred yesterday in Padawan, Sarawak, said Communications and Multimedia Minister Gobind Singh Deo.

The Multimedia and Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) is also looking into whether those who had encouraged the 16-year-old to commit suicide could be prosecuted for abetting a crime, Gobind said.

The remarks follow public anger against followers on the victim’s Instagram account, who allegedly pushed the girl to suicide.

“I am informed that the police are looking into (the incident) and I told MCMC to get in touch with them. Once we get the facts, MCMC is prepared to assist the police,” Gobind told reporters after a visit to Pos Malaysia’s national mail centre in Shah Alam last night.

“At the same time, we want to look at how the CMA could be tweaked to deal with these problems and I’ve spoken about how to deal with cyber bullying before this.

“So, this something we have to look at and try and move. I will meet with MCMC and discuss how we will deal with issues like this in future.”

The teenager reportedly jumped off a building on Monday night, hours after she “polled” her Instagram followers whether she should live or die.

Earlier, the teenager posted “Really Important, Help Me Choose D/L”.

“D” was apparently for death and “L”, life. The poll, which is no longer found in her Instagram account, saw 69% vote for D. Hours later, the girl was found dead.

Bukit Gelugor MP and DAP legal bureau head Ramkarpal Singh urged police to probe into whether those who took part in the poll and voted for the teenager’s death had committed an offence under the Penal Code for aiding and abetting a crime.

Gobind said the MCMC is also looking into whether such conduct by users on the teenager’s Instagram account could be construed as an offence under the CMA.

He added that the ministry and MCMC have yet to decide whether to call up Malaysia’s Facebook representative over the incident. The social media giant owns Instagram.

At the same time, Gobind urged the media to use maximum discretion in their reporting of the incident, given its sensitivity.

“There have also been complaints about media reports covering the incident. We have to understand that there are many people directly involved and we should take steps so that when we report, we consider their (family’s) feelings and views.

“I will speak about this in more detail in the coming days but I think a reminder (to the media) in cases like this, please exercise discretion.” – May 16, 2019.