PUTRAJAYA: The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) is investigating the livestream of an attack on a teacher in Kuching, following concerns over Facebook’s failure to detect or stop the broadcast.
Communications Minister Datuk Seri Fahmi Fadzil said the investigation was ongoing and that the commission would issue a statement on the matter.
READ MORE: Kuching school incident: MCMC urges individuals who uploaded video to delete recording
“Currently, MCMC is conducting an investigation into this issue. I will leave it to MCMC to investigate and issue a statement later,” he said at his weekly press conference here today.
Fahmi said similar incidents had occurred in other countries, where platforms had failed to prevent violent acts from being livestreamed.
He was responding to media questions on whether the government had sought an explanation from Meta, Facebook’s parent company, over the incident and whether stricter measures would be introduced to prevent violent crimes from being broadcast live.
The incident has raised concerns over social media platforms’ ability to detect and stop livestreams of violent acts in real time.
Earlier, MCMC urged individuals who had uploaded or shared videos of the incident involving a dangerous weapon at a school in Kuching to remove the content immediately.
The commission said the circulation of violent footage, particularly involving children, could compromise the privacy and dignity of those involved and affect the emotional well-being of the victims and their families.
It said exposing the identities of children could contravene Section 15 of the Child Act 2001.
The commission added that the dissemination of such content could also result in action under Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 if it violated the relevant legal provisions.
The incident reportedly occurred at 8.03 am, when the Kuching District Police Headquarters’ control centre received information through the MERS 999 emergency line.
Sarawak acting police commissioner Deputy Comm Saifullizan Ishak said preliminary information indicated that the 16-year-old male student had brought firecrackers to the private school before allegedly injuring a female teacher with an axe.
The teacher reportedly sustained cuts to her hand in the incident.