Arya News - Authorities are calling for stronger enforcement and greater parental vigilance as offenders increasingly use digital platforms to groom children and distribute abusive material.
KUALA LUMPUR – The growing scale and complexity of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) offences is alarming, with more than 2.1 million CSAM and pornography files uncovered since 2024.
The figure was recorded through Ops Pedo and Operation Cyber Guardian, which collectively resulted in 170 arrests and the seizure of 369 items, besides the discovery of 2,123,887 CSAM and pornography files.
Bukit Aman Criminal Investigation Department (CID) director Comm Datuk M. Kumar said the number of arrests in Ops Pedo alone had increased with each successive operation over the past three years.
“Ops Pedo 1.0 in 2024 resulted in 13 arrests. The figure rose to 31 in Ops Pedo 2.0 last year. In Ops Pedo 3.0, conducted from Sept 14 to 16, the number of arrests rose further, to 53.
“Each time we conduct an operation, the figure continues to increase. Therefore, we need more aggressive and coordinated action, not only through enforcement but also by raising awareness,” he told a press conference on Integrated Ops Pedo 3.0 here on Tuesday (Sept 22).
Comm Kumar said that cumulatively, the three Ops Pedo resulted in 97 arrests, 94 investigation papers and 214 seized items, with 1,573,193 CSAM and pornography files uncovered.
“We found 40,000 files in Ops Pedo 1.0, followed by 880,000 in Ops Pedo 2.0 and 653,193 in the latest Ops Pedo 3.0,” he said.
Apart from Ops Pedo, police also conduct Operation Cyber Guardian regularly, with its first operation on March 20 last year resulting in four arrests, 29 seized items and the discovery of 52,000 files.
Operation Cyber Guardian II, conducted from April 6 to 8 this year, resulted in 69 arrests, 126 seized items and the discovery of 498,694 files.
In a related development, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) recorded 12,529 requests involving pornographic and CSAM content on social media and Internet messaging services from Jan 1 to Monday (Sept 21).
In the same period, 11,665 pieces of content were removed, while 1,031 websites were blocked by MCMC.
Comm Kumar urged all parties, particularly parents, to step up monitoring of their children’s online activities, including their use of social media.
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