The legal response to cyberstalking in Malaysia

Abstract

In the past two decades, the Internet has been an integral part of our daily lives. The dependency on the Internet and having unlimited access to modern communication systems has brought numerous benefits for users worldwide. However, as a double-edged sword, such systems has also generated a high degree of risk of victimisation from a myriad of cybercrimes, including cyberstalking. Evidence has indicated that cyberstalking has led to more heinous crimes such as cyber fraud and cyber defamation through data mining and social engineering. Moreover, severe repercussion occurs when the crime transcends into the real world which results in rape and even murder. Given the severe impacts of cyberstalking and the nature of such crime in other Western countries, the perception of the law's adequacy remains vague in the current Malaysian legal landscape. Hence, this paper aims at examining the perception of the criminalisation of cyberstalking in Malaysia, the various motives of cyberstalkers in the commission of such crime and the protection afforded to victims of cyberstalking. The paper will also discuss the legal response to cyberstalking in the United Kingdom and European Union focusing on how these countries govern such crime within their jurisdiction. This paper adopts a qualitative methodology, of which the primary data is generated from semi-structured interviews with the relevant stakeholders and victims. The secondary data are the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, the Penal Code, books, academic journals, online databases, and other library-based sources. The sampling method in this research is purposive sampling and the qualitative data analysis was conducted through thematic and content analysis, in which the observations and the interview transcripts from the semi-structured interviews were examined. The primary data were triangulated with the semi-structured interview data obtained from an officer from the Ministry of Communication and Multimedia and another officer from the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development. The findings revealed contradictory views on the effective response of the criminal justice system towards cyberstalking, which explains the under-reporting of such crime. Reports has also highlighted that more than 70 per cent of stalking victims are reluctant to lodge a police report due to the belief that enforcement officers would be unhelpful. The findings highlighted that the under-reporting by victim and under-recording by police combined with frequent unresponsiveness of prosecutors and judges leads to significant barriers for effective criminal justice responses to stalking offences. Also, the motivations of cyberstalkers were evident, such as jealousy and obsession. Furthermore, the stalkers may share traits such as envy, a pathological obsession, including professional or sexual fixation, unemployment or failure with their job or life, and a cruel intention to intimidate or cause others to feel inferior Significantly, the findings illustrate that the current Malaysian legal framework on cyberstalking is deficient in protecting cyberstalking victims, which calls for an urgent need for a review in the Malaysian laws.