Nurul Izzah puts ministries, police on notice over child sex exploitation

 The PKR deputy president calls for coordinated action by the communications ministry, MCMC, the women, family and community development ministry, and the police.

PKR deputy president Nurul Izzah Anwar said the child sex offender registry, introduced in 2019, should be made easily accessible to the public.

PETALING JAYA:

 Nurul Izzah Anwar, the PKR deputy president, has put the spotlight on three ministries, the police and the internet regulator following reports of a Facebook group sharing explicit images of schoolchildren.

While the authorities had acted swiftly to shut down the group, it was not enough. “What is urgently needed is a firm, immediate and coordinated response from key agencies,” she said in a statement.

Nurul Izzah called for the communications ministry and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC)  to come up with a mechanism to evaluate the effectiveness of the current digital safeguards for children.

She also requested the women, family and community development ministry and the police to table a report on current and past cases so that the public could assess the development as well as ensure accountability.

Nurul Izzah called for Parliament to be briefed on the effectiveness of the police D11 unit, which handles sexual crime cases, in order to objectively and honestly gauge the department’s strengths and weaknesses.

She also called for the child sex offender registry, introduced in 2019, to be made easily accessible to the public. “This is not to shame (the offender), but to protect (the children),” she said, citing the example of the Elipsia network led by Spain against child pornography in Latin America and Europe.

Nurul Izzah also urged the education ministry to incorporate online safety elements so that children can identify grooming behaviour and digital threats. - FMT

According to official data from 2023, child sexual crimes rose by 26.5%, while child pornography cases surged by 139.3%, she said.

The “Group Budak2 Sekolah Rendah” page on Facebook, which is now inaccessible, had over 12,000 members and many explicitly sexual comments and captions on its photos.

The images included underage children wearing primary and secondary school uniforms, traditional wear, sports attire, and casual clothing.

The issue came to light after rapper Ariz Ramli, better known as Caprice, was notified of the group’s existence via an Instagram message. The group was then reported to MCMC as well as the police.

Influencer Wee Yun Nee, also known as Mekyun, spoke out about the issue as well after realising that photos from her childhood were circulating on the page. - FMY