CYBERJAYA, March 23 — Eleven locations in several states were raided by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) in an effort to curb abuse of social media in the country.

Raids, with police support, were carried out in Putrajaya; Petaling Jaya (Selangor); Perai and Simpang Ampat (Pulau Pinang); Kerteh and Kuala Dungun (Terengganu); Pasir Puteh (Kelantan); Kluang and Indahputra (Johor); as well as in Bachang and Masjid Tanah (Melaka) following complaints by victims.

In a statement today, MCMC’s Enforcement and Investigation division head Datuk Mohd Shafie Harun said most of the offences that were detected led to the act of transmitting pornographic content such as sex videos.

Besides, he said, there were also offences such as the sending of unscrupulous SMS messages which were offensive and insulting and of threatening content with intent to harass and annoy others.

"In the raid, conversation recordings were also taken from suspects while several communication devices, SIM cards, memory cards, laptops, and hard drives were seized for further investigation,” he said.

Mohd Shafie said that under Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 it was an offence to post any content which is obscene, indecent, false, menacing or offensive in nature with intent to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass another person

It carries a fine not exceeding RM50,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year or both, upon conviction, he said.

He urged social media users in the country to exercise restraint while accessing the Internet and not use it as a platform to disseminate sensitive matters that could invite public anger. — Bernama