No action if no complaint
THE Online Safety Commission (OSC) can only investigate cyberrelated grievances if complaints are lodged with the organisation.
This was the response from the Commission’s acting commissioner, Tajeshwari Devi, in response to queries from this newspaper.
She said many people were not aware of the existence of the Commission which receives and investigates complaints on online grievances.
“But recently, we have started receiving a lot of complaints, which is a good thing in a way that people know the OSC exists and they have a way to redress their problems,” she said.
“The most common complaints we receive are cyber-bullying and image-based abuse so on cyberbullying, we have collaborated with social media platforms. It happens mostly on TikTok and Facebook.
“We are able to send it to the platforms for removal because the first redress that the complainants require from us is the removal of the content.”
However, she stressed that this process could not be done immediately because the companies involved were in Australia.
But Ms Devi said they were able to address these complaints within the stipulated 24 to 48-hour time frame.
“When it comes to image-based abuse, we have also had Meta and other platforms which have the stop non-consensual sharing of intimate images tool that we use, the acting commissioner said.
“Usually, they are not posted. They (complainants) are threatened. If it is posted, we upload those pictures on this tool, it will hash these pictures from being posted online.
“We don’t have powers to prosecute matters in court and one thing that is important to note is that the perpetrators in these instances are usually unknown.”
She urged members of the public to come forward and report cyber-related grievances so the issue could be addressed by the Commission.