Sex, lies and video clips

This week, Malaysians were given a rude shock when video clips of sex acts allegedly involving Economic Affairs Minister Azmin Ali and Santubong PKR Youth chief Haziq Abdullah Abdul Aziz were circulated in social media.

Azmin has dismissed the videos as a conspiracy to destroy his political career, but the case appears to be far from over.

The PKR deputy president's alleged videos are the latest in a long list of sex scandals involving Malaysian politicians.

But with technological advancements comes new challenges for politicians.

From VHS to smartphones

The first sex video scandal involving Malaysian politicians dates back to probably 1989 when VHS tapes purportedly depicting then-Dewan Rakyat deputy speaker DP Vijandran having sex with several women emerged.

Former The Star CEO Wong Chun Wai, who was a journalist at the time, described the quality of sex videos from that era as "poor and grainy", especially when recorded with a hidden camera and in poor lighting.

Nineteen years later, the quality of such ‘hidden camera’ videos had improved when MCA's Chua Soi Lek was caught having sex with his alleged mistress. The method of distribution, too, had changed - from videotapes to VCD discs.

Come 2011, the sex video purportedly of Anwar Ibrahim and a woman released by the Datuk T trio (the three proponents were datuks) had even clearer images. And thanks to the internet, it was widely viewed by the public.

This was despite the attempt by the distributors of the so-called Datuk T video (which included former Malacca menteri besar Rahim Thamby Chik, below) to contain the circulation of the video by holding a private screening for journalists in a hotel room and taking steps to stop journalists from recording the video.

This included requiring the invited journalists to wear supplied bathrobes, meant to circumvent the use of any stealth recording device. Of course, this was in vain in the internet era.

Now, 30 years since the first Malaysian politician sex video scandal, such clips can be viewed and spread easily on smartphones.

This was the fate of Azmin when the purported video of him emerged on WhatsApp and was quickly and widely circulated through social media in the wee hours of Tuesday.

While the first set of videos were of low quality, the image in the last video which was released on Wednesday was significantly clearer.

Deepfakes

Technological advancements, however, are a double-edged sword when it comes to sex videos.

While videos may be of higher quality and can be spread wider to inflict maximum damage, the authenticity of such videos has come into question.

This is due to the advent of "deepfake" technology. Deepfake is a combination of the words “deep learning” and “fake”.

It uses artificial intelligence to analyse real footage of people, whose faces are then superimposed onto a fake video, producing surprisingly realistic results.

While this may seem like something that requires a Hollywood blockbuster budget, deepfake technology is actually becoming more and more accessible. One website offers to deliver a deepfake video for as little as US$10 (RM40).

And while early deepfake videos had quirks such as the odd blinking of the eyes, the quality has advanced so much so that deepfake videos are becoming harder and harder to spot.

It has yet to be established whether the alleged Haziq-Azmin videos are real or fake. Azmin has denied that he played any part in the sex videos.

Can Azmin survive?

Vijandran, too, denied that he was the man in the sex tapes and claimed it was doctored by his nephew S Ravindran - who was among the four who allegedly stole the tapes from his home.

However, this was not enough to save the MIC leader’s political career, which ended not long after the scandal broke.

Chua, on the other hand, admitted to being the man in the sex tape involving him when it emerged in 2008. While he initially resigned from all his posts, he made a comeback that same year, and eventually became MCA president in 2010.

But fate may not be so kind to Azmin.

University of Tasmania's Asia Institute director James Chin said the only way Azmin can come out of this unscathed is that the video is proven as fake.

"Malay society is very conservative, so there is a double standard. Homosexual activities are not accepted. If you're caught with a woman, it’s considered adultery but not so for homosexual behaviour," Chin told Malaysiakini.

"With Anwar's (sodomy allegations), there was no video. The only alleged video of Anwar was with a woman, so the visual aspect of seeing it is important.”

This view was echoed by Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) professor Kamarul Zaman Yusoff.

"(The implications are) far worse, as same-sex relations is not normal and considered taboo…," Kamarul Zaman said.

In addition, sodomy is also a criminal offence punishable with up to 20 years in prison.

Kamarul Zaman said Azmin’s denial was also less than convincing. According to him, Azmin may likely to suffer the fate of Rahim Thamby Chik, who quit all his political posts despite not being charged over allegations of statutory rape in 1994.

Rahim managed to stage a minor comeback by winning an Umno supreme council post in 2004, but his career never fully recovered.

Kamarul Zaman said the situation with Azmin is further complicated by Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad's firm stance against those "with moral conundrums from a sexual perspective".

Chin, however, believed that if the Azmin videos were true, then Mahathir's support would be the only thing that can save the economic affairs minister. In the wake of the scandal, Mahathir had said the videos were fake.

Both the police and the Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) are investigating the scandal.

However, Chin noted that police have never made public the outcome of their investigations into previous cases of sex videos involving top politicians. - Mkini