Retail assistant fined RM14,000 for producing and sharing offensive videos

SEPANG: A retail assistant has been fined RM14,000 here for producing and sharing videos with offensive content on her Twitter account three years ago.

Sessions judge Ahmad Fuad Othman handed down the sentence on Siti Amiza Baharuddin, 28, on Monday (Aug 25) after she admitted to two charges.

The court fined her RM7,000 in default six months’ jail for each charge.

The judge also ordered that the case items, a laptop and a mobile phone, be surrendered to the prosecution for further action.

“The accused initiated the communication for commercial purposes, but the manner in which you did so was against the norms of our society. The law is designed to safeguard public morality and prevent such communication,” the judge said.

Earlier, defence lawyer Ahmad Hafiz A. Bakar urged the court to impose a minimum fine, arguing that his client’s guilty plea warranted consideration and that the case had affected her physical and mental health.

However, Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) DPP Fadhli Ab Wahab pressed for a deterrent sentence, citing public interest.

Siti Amiza was accused of knowingly posting obscene videos on her account with the intent to annoy others at 7.47pm on Sept 13, 2022 and 10.14pm on Dec 18 the same year.

MCMC detected both posts on May 19, 2023 at its headquarters in Cyberjaya.

The charges were framed under Section 233(1)(a) of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 punishable under Section 233(3), which carries a maximum fine of RM50,000, a jail term of up to one year, or both upon conviction. – Bernama