DOI: 10.5176/2251-3809_LRPP19.171
Authors: Dr. Manique Cooray
Abstract: In Malaysia, various reported cases, [1] demonstrate that many children are exposed to pornographic and obscene material online. At the onset of this research paper it is submitted that “pornographic,” “obscene” and “indecent material” are collectively referred to as “harmful sexual material on the Internet” [2] for the reason that such exposure may desensitize a child into believing that sexual acts depicted in pornographic movies are “normal” and hence it is acceptable for a child to engage in such behaviour.
Exposure to harmful sexual content online is also one of the ways in which paedophiles build a relationship with children, especially by distributing and sharing specific images of children involved in sexual content. For instance, images of children of a sexual nature assist them “in the seduction of a child and encourage reluctant children to freely participate” in child pornography. [3] Thus, it is not the scope of this research paper to look into the impact that sexual content have on children. The objective of this research is to propose known methods for preventing the potential harms that might befall a child from exposure to such content or by accessing such content, either incidentally or accidentally which may be adopted in the regulation of content in Malaysia.
Although the Penal Code of Malaysia and the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 make it an offence to distribute and make available such content in Malaysia, harmful sexual material can easily be accessed from websites originating from external servers. The proposed two methods are age-verification and Key-Stroke Dynamics. Age-verification can be monitored by ensuring service providers adopt an “age-verification” control mechanism when content of such nature is accessed in Malaysia. For Key-Stroke Dynamics could be achieved through the adaptation of a reputable personal digital identity management service system that could distinguish a child user from that of an adult by using the Keystroke Dynamics method. Finally, the paper examines the current legislative provisions in place to address this issue.
Keywords: Age-Verification; Harmful Content on the Internet; Keystroke Dynamics