PRIVATE SCHOOLS MUST HAVE STRICTER SOPS ON SEXUAL MISCONDUCT, SAYS TEO 

KULAI, April 12 (Bernama) -- Private schools must establish stricter Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to address incidents of sexual misconduct, including cases involving AI-generated lewd images, said Deputy Communications Minister Teo Nie Ching.

She suggested that they could refer to the Guidelines for Managing Sexual Misconduct used by institutions under the Ministry of Education (MOE).

Commenting on the recent case at a private secondary school here, where AI-edited explicit images of female students were circulated and sold online, Teo said the school's administration had been informed of the issue since last year.

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"The victims indicated this was not the first incident. Similar cases had been reported previously, but no effective action was taken to prevent it from continuing.

"The issue only went viral after one victim personally lodged a police report. So far, 38 victims have been identified, some as young as 13 years old, highlighting the gravity of the situation," she told a press conference at the Johor DAP Headquarters here today.

Six of the identified victims attended the press conference. Their images had been edited using Artificial Intelligence (AI) and sold on social media.

Teo noted that in November 2023, MOE issued a circular stating that principals or headmasters must take action within 24 hours upon becoming aware of any sexual misconduct cases.

Although this circular does not apply to private Chinese secondary schools, private schools, or international schools, Teo stressed that such guidelines are necessary in today’s digital era, where AI-generated images and deepfakes are increasingly common.

"I believe all educational institutions, whether private or international, must have strict SOPs to guide how they handle such complaints," she said.

Previously, Johor Police Chief Datuk M. Kumar reported that 22 police reports had been filed so far regarding the case.

A 16-year-old male suspect has been remanded until next Tuesday in connection with the case.

The case came to light after an 18-year-old female student lodged a police report upon discovering her face had been used in an explicit image circulated online. The suspect is believed to have sold the edited images for as little as RM2 each.

--BERNAMA