Probe into viral sex video is top priority, says MCMC
(Bernama) – The investigation into the viral sex video allegedly implicating a federal minister is the top priority at the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), said its chairman Al-Ishsal Ishak.
He said the cybercrime committee, a collaboration between the police and MCMC, had been working actively since the video went viral on social media last Tuesday.
“This is a case of national importance, so there is a priority,” he told reporters after attending the Consumer First pledge-signing ceremony between MCMC and major telecommunications companies here today.
Al-Ishsal said while the police were leading the investigation, the MCMC was playing its role as provider of digital forensics.
He said the commission’s role was to provide technical assistance required by the police, identify the source and to trace the perpetrators responsible for spreading the videos.
“The MCMC is working hard to gather all evidence in the case,” he said.
Asked whether the MCMC would examine the authenticity of the video clip, he said Deputy Inspector-General of Police Mazlan Mansor had said that it would be done by the police.
“MCMC is not a law enforcement agency. We act under the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.
“If our help is requested by the police or other enforcement agencies, including the National Security Council, we will surely provide full technical assistance to facilitate their investigations,” he said.
Al-Ishsal advised the public not to upload, spread or share obscene content online as it was against the law.
“The government, especially the MCMC and the police, will waste no time in investigating and solving such cases, especially if these affect consumers and national security,” he said.
Economic Affairs Minister Azmin Ali had on Wednesday vehemently denied an allegation by an individual implicating him in a sex video, calling it a nefarious plot to assassinate his character and destroy his political career.
On another matter, asked whether there was a loophole in the registration of prepaid and postpaid mobile services, Al-Ishsal said the problem arose when some registrations were made using other people’s identity.
“The law says you have to register (your personal information) to have a phone number, but some people are registering by using other people’s identity. This (identity theft) is a problem which we are trying to tackle,” he said.
In future, he said, a digital identification system would be introduced to verify a person’s identity for every online activity. He hoped this would be able to curb the problem of identity fraud and fake digital accounts.
