Govt mulls making intrusion of privacy criminal offence, says Liew

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Liew Vui Keong says the government wants to make sure privacy is respected.

PUTRAJAYA: The government is studying the possibility of making intrusion of privacy a criminal offence alongside the proposed anti-stalking law, said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Liew Vui Keong.

Referring to the recent incident of viral sex videos implicating a minister, Liew said he was looking into the matter as an intrusion of privacy.

“We all have our privacy whether you like it or not. We all want to make sure our privacy is protected and cannot be intruded upon. I’m looking into that,” he told reporters at the Legal Affairs Division Hari Raya Aidilfitri open house here today.

In response to a question on the production and circulation of sex videos from the perspective of the law, Liew said he had set up a committee to look into the formulation of laws to check such unhealthy practices.

This was aimed at protecting society, especially women and children, from becoming victims of such offences, he said.

“This is the time for us to look at this as we have seen a lot of offences lately, such as between girlfriend and boyfriend. The boy takes a photo of the girl and posts it on social media to threaten her.

“It can also happen when somebody takes a video of some action between certain partners and they use the video to threaten that particular person,” he said.

Earlier this year, Liew proposed legislation to make stalking, peeping or prying upon another person a criminal offence. - FMT