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KUALA LUMPUR - At least three Indian social media influencers have alleged that they were victims of an ongoing cyberbullying and defamation campaign by a group of individuals.
The first victim, B L Olivia Lopez, said more than two individuals had allegedly worked together to bully her by uploading videos, hosting TikTok live sessions and making various threatening, insulting, humiliating and baseless defamatory statements against her over the past six years.
She said the alleged bullies had also deliberately tarnished her business products among their TikTok followers while accusing her of being a ‘scammer’, despite the allegations being completely unfounded.
“A group of individuals (Indian men and women) repeatedly bullied me on TikTok, as if they did not like seeing me and other women business owners succeeding.
“They accused us of all sorts of things and called us ‘product scammers’. If we really cheated people, where are the police reports against us? There are none!
“This was not ordinary cyberbullying because both my child and I also faced sexual harassment. They talked about private parts, including my school-going child’s breasts, during TikTok live sessions, to the point that she once wanted to take her own life,” she said.
Olivia said this when met by Sinar Harian at a law firm office in Plaza Damas, Taman Sri Hartamas, here on Saturday.
Elaborating, she said she had taken her child for psychiatric treatment several times after being targeted by defamation and online bullying for an extended period.
She said around 10 police reports had been lodged, along with complaints to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), but there had been no response so far, with the reason given that the matter did not fall under its jurisdiction.
As the cyberbullying against her continued, the founder of a religious products brand admitted that she had almost given up.
However, she continued to stand up for her dignity and that of other victims despite still being unable to determine the motive behind the alleged cyberbullying campaign.
“The individuals who accused me of all sorts of things are also Indians. I do not understand why they are accusing and bullying us like this.
“My fellow victims and I suspect that someone else may be paying the perpetrators a sum of money to deliberately belittle businesses run by their own community because the modus operandi is the same.
“I have already reported this issue to the police and even lodged complaints with the MCMC, yet no action has been taken!” said the certified clinical hypnotherapist.
Her younger sister, B L Anita Lopez, also shared her experience of being harassed by online bullies.
The director of a company run by her sister said the bullying had continued to the point that her in-laws treated her badly, affecting her emotional wellbeing.
She said, even more painfully, her in-laws had refused to acknowledge her as their daughter-in-law after placing too much trust in malicious claims made by the perpetrators on TikTok.
To this day, she said she struggled to face society whenever she went out for work because she feared being judged by the public.
“Initially, they (the perpetrators) attacked women ‘founders’ in Malaysia, and over time they targeted me, my family and now my marital harmony has been destroyed because of these defamatory allegations.
“There was a point when I attempted to take my own life but did not go through with it, and I immediately sought psychiatric treatment due to the emotional distress,” she said.
“They made accusations without any evidence, even though we have kept all the evidence relating to their offences,” she added.
On that basis, the two sisters urged Communications Minister Datuk Seri Fahmi Fadzil to respond to the cyberbullying issue, which they said had affected the emotional wellbeing of victims for years.
“We have made so many reports, do you really want us to die first before taking action? Enough of what happened to the bullying victim, Esha, who died last year.
“It is true that action was taken after the ‘Esha Clause’ was introduced, but I feel it is not enough!
“Even after being charged, when the bullies’ TikTok accounts are suspended, it is not as though they cannot open new accounts, and the same people continue their cyberbullying,” Anita said.