Nurul Izzah calls for clampdown on 'national disgrace' - online child sexual exploitation

New Straits Times

22-06-2025

KUALA LUMPUR: PKR deputy president Nurul Izzah Anwar has called for an urgent, coordinated action to tackle the growing threat of online child sexual exploitation.
Describing it as a "national disgrace", she said the issue demanded more than just reactive measures.
"Even so, there are still significant gaps in the legal provisions that need to be addressed, areas that require improvement and follow-up actions that must be taken swiftly to ensure better protection for those most at risk," she said in a statement.
She said this amid public outrage over the recent exposure of a Facebook group called "Group Budak2 Sekolah Rendah" , which had more than 12,000 members and was allegedly found to be circulating sexually explicit content of primary schoolchildren.
Nurul Izzah said merely shutting down the group was insufficient and urged enforcement agencies to take stronger, transparent action.
"The Communications Ministry and MCMC must outline how they monitor digital platforms for such abuses and prove that their detection systems are effective.
"The ministry and police can also release public updates on the investigation into the Facebook group and similar past cases that have remained out of public view."
Citing her own experience with online sexual threats, Nurul Izzah revealed that she had been targeted with gang rape threats in January.
"A police report was lodged and alhamdulillah action was taken — on June 18, the individual responsible was formally charged with publishing 11 obscene and offensive criminal threats against me.
"This incident serves as a stark reminder that action must be taken whenever such threats arise, without exception and without delay," she said.
Nurul Izzah said the government must provide Parliament with a detailed update on the implementation of the Online Safety Act and offer a comprehensive briefing on the effectiveness of the D11 special police unit, which was established to handle sexual crimes.
She called for special allocations to strengthen this unit and said Malaysia should consider adopting an international model similar to ELIPSIA, an initiative involving police forces in Latin America and Europe, to jointly combat online child sexual exploitation.
She also advocated for greater public access to the Child Sexual Offender Registry, which was launched in 2019, emphasising that the goal is not to shame, but to protect vulnerable communities.
Additionally, she proposed that the Education Ministry improve the health education syllabus in schools by incorporating online safety awareness, enabling students to identify grooming behaviour and inappropriate content more effectively.
"Offenders are using increasingly sophisticated technologies and the dark web to conceal their actions.
"We are always acting too late. The system must evolve to meet the scale of the threat."
Nurul Izzah said PKR would be launching a nationwide campaign focused on raising public awareness, offering community-led counselling and support, collaborating with NGOs and schools, setting up awareness counters in public spaces and involving local leaders and district offices in advocacy and monitoring efforts.