SHAH ALAM - Cyberbullying can no longer be regarded as merely a social media dispute when it involves threats, identity impersonation, the disclosure of personal information or repeated harassment that causes victims to fear for their safety.
Independent criminologist Datuk Shahul Hamid Abd Rahim said acts intended to threaten, humiliate or cause emotional harm to victims carry legal implications.
He said threats to a person's safety were far more serious than a one-off argument.
"Victims should not wait until a physical attack occurs before seeking help.
"Reports can be lodged when there are threats, repeated harassment, impersonation, extortion, the dissemination of sensitive content or circumstances that cause someone to feel their safety is at risk.
"An early report enables the authorities to establish an official record, assess whether an offence has been committed and determine the appropriate action," he told Sinar.
He advised victims not to immediately delete disturbing or hurtful content, as the material could serve as important evidence.
Evidence that should be preserved includes screenshots of the content, account names, usernames, dates and times of incidents, as well as post links, messages, voice recordings, photographs and videos.
"If the harassment occurs repeatedly, keep a timeline documenting when it began, how it happened and how often it was carried out.
"Accounts can be deleted, usernames changed and posts taken down at any time," he said.
Shahul said one of the main challenges in enforcement was the use of fake accounts and the difficulty of tracing perpetrators, particularly when the platforms or individuals were based overseas.
He said swift cooperation between the police, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission, platform providers and relevant agencies was therefore crucial in identifying perpetrators and preserving evidence.
Meanwhile, Universiti Utara Malaysia criminology expert Dr Zalmizy Hussin said repeated cyberbullying was not merely an emotional outburst, but could develop into a pattern of behaviour.
He said the anonymity of the digital world led some perpetrators to believe their identities were concealed and the risk of being detected was lower.
"When someone cannot see a victim's sadness face-to-face, they may feel that what they write has no impact.
"This can weaken moral restraint and empathy, encouraging someone to do things they might not do in real life," he said.
He added that peer influence could also encourage such behaviour when perpetrators sought acceptance within their social groups.