Mystalk Alert: A Response to Cyberstalking in Malaysia
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Abstract
The Internet has become a vital part of our daily lives in the last two decades. However, as a
double-edged sword, such reliance has increased the chance of being targeted by various
cybercrimes, including cyberstalking. Furthermore, when the crime transcends into the real
world, it can result in rape and even murder. Hence, the MYStalk Alert application aims at
helping and facilitating the victims of stalking and victims of harassment generally to
understand, cope, and document their experience on the crime for a compelling trail of evidence
in the criminal justice process. This Application aims to remedy the circumstances by giving
access to users to the features that make it easy to document the evidence and provides them
with available information on the crime and the legal landscape of stalking in Malaysia.
Furthermore, MYStalk Alert also focused on the user’s physical and psychological by
providing self-assessment and tips for the wellbeing including mental health test under the
feature of victims’ support. The Application is a first of its kind in Malaysia and aims to support
victims of stalking in getting the justice they deserved. The preliminary findings revealed
contradictory views on the effective response of the criminal justice system towards
cyberstalking, which explains the under-reporting of such crime. Significantly, the findings
illustrate that the current Malaysian legal framework on cyberstalking is deficient in protecting
cyberstalking victims, which calls for an urgent need for a review in the Malaysian laws.