Myths & Realities

Myth: Whatever happens on the internet is not real. The victim is not in any actual danger.
Reality: In fact, victims are in greater danger because they may not even know the identity of the perpetrators. The perpetrator can inflict harm with a click of the finger without being physically near the victim.  Once uploaded online, harmful comments, images, videos or posts may exist for a long time in online space and can be shared by others multiple times.

Myth: If the victims switch off their computer / mobile phone, the violence will stop.
Reality: No, the violence does not stop. As the victims have left “digital footprint” online which is long-lasting, the perpetrators can easily obtain personal information about the victims to continuously harass, intimidate and exploit the victims on the internet in other ways, such as impersonating the victim to commit crimes.

Myth: Online violence is “normal” and the victim will grow out of it.
Reality: Online violence is not normal and it is not acceptable. It is important not to normalise such behaviours, even in cyberspace.

Myth: If the perpetrator deletes the comments, images or posts after the incident, then it is not considered as online violence because the content is no longer available online.
Reality: Although the perpetrator has deleted the postings, it is still a form of violation or abuse. Deleted comments, images, videos and/or posts can still be found online because they may have been shared or circulated by others on their online platforms.

Myth: Online violence is committed by strangers who are extremely familiar with technology.
Reality: Online violence can be committed by people that victims know, such as their spouse and friends. There are applications and software that are readily available and easy to use on the internet that perpetrators can make use of and/or install in their victim’s digital devices to stalk the victim.

Myth: There is nothing the victims can do about online violence.
Reality: There are many steps that victims can take to stop online from further harm, including making a report to the respective social media platform, lodging a police report and lodging a complaint to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and Cyber999. (Refer to Getting Help section)

Myth: Online violence is not a crime because there are no laws specifically enacted for this.
Reality: Online violence is a crime. There are many laws that can be used to charge the perpetrators, including the Penal Code, Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 and Sexual Offences against Children Act 2017. (Refer to Laws in Malaysia section)

Myth: Women post content online to draw attention to themselves, so they should accept all responses directed at them.
Reality: No. Making sexualised comments about women, leaving disrespectful comments and/or harassing women online is wrong and is a violation of the person. The intention of the women who share their content online should not matter.