BY: LEANNE K

When a 16-year-old allegedly produced deepfake images of his schoolmates and sold them online, he was arrested and is expected to be charged under Section 292 of the Penal Code for the sale and distribution of obscene materials.

But experts contend that Malaysian laws have been outpaced by the rapd evolution of digital technology. Although the nation has cybercrime legislation in place, these laws lag behind the sophisticated new digital crimes.

The Malaysia Cyber Consumer Association (MCCA) stated that children have to be made to understand the ethical boundaries and consequences of using digital tools, especially Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology.

The association stated that while children should be encouraged to use AI, there is also an urgent need to improve digital literacy and teach them how to use it responsibly as their creativity could go in both positive and negative directions.

The MCCA has been advocating a compulsory subject on digital literacy to be taught in schools that covers ethics, cybersecurity and safe tech use and they believe there are also many cases of cyberbullying that go unreported.

Agreeing to this, the Malaysian Education Concorde Organisation (Me’didik) believes that children must be digitally literate from a young age and without early guidance, students may turn to their peers or social media platforms for solutions.

-THE MALAYSIA VOICE

** The views expressed on this opinion is of the writer and not the publisher