The legal framework
Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 criminalises the improper use of network facilities, including offensive and menacing content, and is the provision most often used for non-consensual intimate imagery. The Online Safety Act 2024, operative from 2025, imposes duties on major platforms to remove harmful content, including intimate image abuse.
Key points
| Statute | Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, section 233 |
|---|---|
| Online Safety Act 2024 | Platform duties to act on harmful content, operative from 2025 |
| Regulator | Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission |
| Penal Code | Criminal intimidation and extortion where threats are made |
| Blocking | MCMC can direct blocking of unlawful content |
| Data protection | PDPA applies to identifiable images in commercial contexts |
| Extortion | Demanding money to withhold an image is a separate and more serious offence |
| Online Safety Act | Imposes removal duties on major platforms |
In practice
- Save the evidence before reporting: screenshots with the URL and date, the account name, and any messages.
- Use the platform's own reporting form first — it is the fastest route to removal — then report to the authority.
- Use StopNCII.org or Take It Down for intimate images: they create a digital fingerprint so participating platforms can block re-uploads without you sending the image anywhere.
- Do not pay a person demanding money to delete an image: payment almost always leads to further demands.
- Report extortion separately: it is treated more seriously than the content offence.
Recent changes
The Online Safety Act 2024 created the first statutory duty of care for platforms operating in Malaysia.
Where to go
- MCMC complaint portal and hotline.
- Royal Malaysia Police, Cyber Crime Division.
- Women's Aid Organisation and All Women's Action Society.
Worth knowing
Section 233 is broad and has also been used against ordinary speech: it is a powerful tool for victims, and a contested one in public debate. Where money is demanded, the case is extortion as well as an image offence. Saying so changes which police unit handles it.
Official sources and links
- MyGovernment — official government portal