Recognising the damage that body-shaming and cyberbullying can do, the Johor Bahru High Court recently awarded RM100,000 to an entrepreneur who was on the receiving end of this on Facebook.
In his judgment, judicial commissioner Shamsulbahri Ibrahim said the RM100,000 was reasonable compensation given the "choice of words uttered by the defendant, which was not only defamed but also cyber-bullied and body-shamed the plaintiff".
He also ordered the defendant to post a statement of apology on all her Facebook accounts and to maintain the statement for a minimum of six months from the date of judgment.
"It is my view that the above sum is a message to the public, especially to the cyber community to maintain good manners and attitude when using the mass media, which is an important medium of communication nowadays.
"Furthermore, no matter how much one disagrees with someone else's point of view, the act of defaming, bullying and shaming others is something that should be avoided," he said.
The judgment was delivered in the Johor Bahru High Court on May 30 but the written judgment was published on the e-Kehakiman website this week.
Insults on weight, body shape and family
The plaintiff, Suharnizan Mohd Sidek, filed a lawsuit against the defendant, Noorazira Pissal, who is a slimming and skin whitening product ambassador, for defaming her in a Facebook Live posting on Aug 8, 2020.
The court heard that the defendant had uttered the defamatory statements after the plaintiff left a comment on her Facebook Live promoting her slimming product during a cooking demonstration.
"Live masak, live makan-makan, letak produk kurus, boleh kurus ke? (Can you become slim by doing Facebook Live of cooking and eating next to a slimming product?)” the plaintiff had asked.
In response, the defendant had gone on an eight-minute verbal tirade, where she insulted the plaintiff, including ridiculing her body shape and weight.
The defendant also shared photographs of the plaintiff and her children and identified her place of work.
The defendant had deleted her posting, but not before it was captured and re-broadcasted by content aggregator websites Makcik Bawang Channel, Makcik Kiah Channel, Awatt Syeikk Channel and Surat Khabor Channel on April 9, 2020.
The judicial commissioner said although she took down her post, the defendant did not make an effort to get the third parties to remove the re-broadcasts.
He added that the defendant, a brand ambassador for slimming product Klubna Laleh and skin whitening products Miruku White, also has more than 700,000 followers on Facebook.
Anti-cyberbullying laws
The judgment appears in line with the Communications and Multimedia Ministry's move last year to prepare a cabinet paper on anti-cyberbullying laws.
This was following a case where a teenage girl was believed to have committed suicide after her boyfriend threatened to upload private photos of her on social media.
Then minister Saifuddin Abdullah said 85 percent of respondents in a survey by Malaysian Multimedia University said a specific law should be formulated to tackle cyberbullying.
Such laws exist in Singapore and The Philippines, he said, but there has been no progress on this matter since the announcement was made in March 2021.
Last year, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission received more than 6,000 complaints about cyberbullying.
Last month, a mother of three and popular TikTok user died of suicide after receiving hateful comments on the social media platform.
Factors for suicide are complex and it is difficult to attribute a single motivating cause.
The World Health Organization considers it a serious health issue but said it is preventable with proper intervention.
If you are feeling depressed or suicidal, or know someone who is, please call the following hotlines:
Talian Kasih
Hotline: 15999
The Befrienders
Hotline: 03-76272929
Agape Counselling Centre Malaysia
Hotline: 03-77855955 or 03-77810800
Life Line Association Malaysia
Hotline: 03-42657995
- Mkini
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