Cops monitoring ‘Dark Side’ pornography sites

KUALA LUMPUR: The public are reminded that advertising, possession and distribution of pornographic material is an offence under Section 292 of the Penal Code and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 and criminal charges can be imposed.

The warning comes from the Bukit Aman Criminal Investigation Department and is in light of a new trend that has taken on, on social media.

The “Dark Side” or DS account is where the owner of a social media account chooses to display their dark side, especially sexual desire and fantasy, on their account.

DS accounts are easy to set up. In fact the number of such accounts is increasing, with most involving pornography-related posts, abusive words and invitations to have intimate relations, as well as uploading and selling personal pornographic videos and pictures.

An account holder said the platform allows users to upload personal pornographic pictures and videos, and some even display unnatural sex acts.

The 26-year-old, who preferred to remain anonymous, said account owners and their followers also unabashedly chat about pornographic topics, sexual fantasies and exchange pornographic content, and even invitions to have sex.

“There are accounts that post pictures, nude videos of themselves … for fun.”

He said some DS account owners are selling pornographic videos and photo collections to selected customers from as little as RM50 to hundreds of ringgit.

The modus operandi of these social media users will see the account owner upload a short video as an advertisement to attract customers and then put the sale content in a group through the chat application after receiving the payment.

Commenting on the matter, an expert in counselling in psychology from Universiti

Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia Prof Datuk Dr Mohamed Fadzil Che Din said the DS trend is seen to be closely related to mental health.

He said the individuals involved have failed to balance their instinctive sexual urges with their rational thinking based on strong religious and moral values.

“As they are mentally weak, they fail to manage libido or strong instincts of pleasure. If their mentality is strong ... all instinctive urges will be managed well and successfully. If not treated, it will become a cancer in society, especially for users of social media,” he said.

Meanwhile, Bukit Aman Criminal Investigation Department deputy director (Investigation/Legal) DCP Mior Faridalathrash Wahid said police have been monitoring the DS trend and have been cooperating with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission to identify account holders found selling or distributing pornographic or erotic images. – Bernama