Someone Leaked Your Intimate Images. In June 2026 A Malaysian Court Upheld RM60,000 Against A Man Who Did That.

## HELP FIRST. THE LAW CAN WAIT AN HOUR. You have done nothing wrong. Whatever the images are, however they were taken, whoever you sent them to and whatever you were wearing — the person who shared them without your consent is the one who broke the law. Not you. Talk to someone now:

• Talian Kasih 15999 — 24 hours. WhatsApp 019-261 5999
• WAO (Women's Aid Organisation) 03-3000 8858 — TINA WhatsApp 018-988 8058
• AWAM 03-7877 0224
• Talian HEAL 15555 — mental health, 8am–midnight
• Befrienders KL 03-7627 2929 — 24 hours
• Emergency: 999
• Scam-related: NSRC 997 Before you do anything else — preserve the evidence. Screenshot everything: the post, the profile, the URL, the timestamp, any messages where they threatened to do it or admitted doing it. Screenshot before you report it, because reporting can make the content vanish and take your proof with it. Save to somewhere they cannot reach — a cloud account with a password they don't know. Do not pay. If someone is demanding money to not share, or to take it down, paying almost never ends it. That is extortion and it is a crime.

On 10 June 2026, the Kuala Lumpur High Court upheld an award by the Tribunal for Anti-Sexual Harassment (TAGS) against a man who had shared his ex-girlfriend's intimate photos online without her consent.

The award, dated 1 August 2024, ordered him to issue a written apology, attend counselling, and pay her RM60,000 in damages.

It was the first time a TAGS decision had been challenged in court, and the challenge failed. The Minister for Women, Family and Community Development described it as an important milestone. A lawyer commenting on the case said it reflected the seriousness with which courts were treating tribunal decisions in cases involving non-consensual sharing of intimate images.

That matters to you because it means the tribunal route is real, tested, and enforceable — and it is far faster and cheaper than a civil suit.

1. TAGS — the route most people should look at first

Why this route is significant. The balance of probabilities standard is much lower than the criminal "beyond reasonable doubt". You are not dependent on police and prosecutors deciding to charge. And the June 2026 decision confirms the High Court will back the tribunal's awards.

The date limit is a hard one. TAGS covers harassment occurring on or after 8 March 2024. If your images were shared before that date, TAGS is not available and you need the other routes below.

2. Criminal routes

s.233 Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 — improper use of network facilities. The provision was substantially amended: the Communications and Multimedia (Amendment) Act 2025 was passed in December 2024, gazetted 7 February 2025 and came into effect 11 February 2025.

What changed:

• "offensive" became "grossly offensive", with explanatory notes added
• the penalty rose from not exceeding RM50,000 and 1 year to not exceeding RM500,000 and 2 years
• a specific heavier penalty for offences involving a child under 18: RM500,000 and/or 5 years, plus a further fine of RM5,000 for each day the offence continues after conviction
• new s.233A on unsolicited commercial electronic messages, and s.236A creating a right of private action for network and fraud damage

A constitutional complication you should know about. On 19 August 2025, the Court of Appeal in Heidy Quah Gaik Li v Government of Malaysia held that the words "offensive" and "annoy" in the pre-2025 version of s.233 were unconstitutional as inconsistent with Articles 8 and 10 of the Federal Constitution. In February 2026, the Federal Court partly reversed that decision, with reporting describing the core of the ruling as affirming the continued criminalisation of online speech deemed offensive with intent to annoy.

What this means practically: s.233 remains in force and prosecutions continue. But it is a provision under active constitutional challenge, and civil society organisations including CIJ and ARTICLE 19 have called for its repeal on free expression grounds. Do not treat a s.233 report as a guaranteed path. It is one option among several.

s.292 Penal Code covers the sale, distribution and public exhibition of obscene material.

s.507A Penal Code covers stalking, which may be relevant where the image-sharing is part of a pattern of behaviour.

Extortion. If someone is demanding money or further images in exchange for not sharing, or for taking content down, that is a separate and serious criminal matter. Report it.

Where to report: any police station, or the nearest PDRM district headquarters. Bring your preserved evidence on a device and, if you can, printed.

3. Getting the content taken down

Report to the platform first. Every major platform has a dedicated reporting route for non-consensual intimate imagery, and these are usually the fastest removal mechanism — faster than any legal process.

Then MCMC. The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission handles content complaints and can direct action against licensed service providers.

The Online Safety Act 2025 (Act 866) strengthens this. It received Royal Assent 6 May 2025, was gazetted 22 May 2025, and came into force 1 January 2026 with four sets of subsidiary regulations.

• It applies to licensed service providers under the CMA 1998 — Applications Service Providers, Content Applications Service Providers and Network Service Providers.
• Social media and messaging platforms with at least eight million Malaysian users are deemed registered as ASP class licensees under s.46A CMA from 1 January 2026, bringing them into scope.
• Individual users are not regulated under ONSA — it places duties on platforms, not on you.
• Providers must implement measures to reduce user exposure to harmful content, provide clearer safety information, easier reporting of harmful content, more responsive assistance, and better controls over who can contact or interact with users.
• Penalties for non-compliance run to RM10 million.
• An Online Safety Appeal Tribunal handles grievances about Commission decisions.

The two codes took effect 1 June 2026. The Risk Mitigation Code and Child Protection Code, published 22 May 2026, apply to licensed social media and messaging platforms with more than eight million Malaysian users. RMC duties include annual harmful-content risk assessments, advertiser verification, synthetic media labelling and pre-deployment risk evaluation — the first AI-specific duties on platforms in Malaysia, which matter because deepfake and AI-generated intimate imagery is a growing form of this abuse.

Practical translation: platforms operating at scale in Malaysia now have enforceable legal duties to respond to reports of harmful content. Use the in-platform report, keep the reference number, and escalate to MCMC if nothing happens.

4. Civil claims

Beyond TAGS, civil options may include claims founded on breach of confidence, defamation in some circumstances, and intentional infliction of harm. Malaysia does not have a standalone statutory tort of privacy, which is why TAGS matters so much as a route.

Civil litigation is slower and more expensive than TAGS, and the tribunal's RM250,000 compensation ceiling covers most cases. Take advice on whether a civil suit adds anything to a tribunal claim before starting one.

5. What to preserve, and how

Do this before reporting anything, because reporting can remove the content and your evidence with it.

• Screenshot the content itself, including the surrounding page so the URL and platform are visible
• Screenshot the profile that posted it — username, display name, profile URL, follower count, bio
• Record the URL as text you can copy, not just in an image
• Note the date and time you first saw it, and the timestamp shown on the post
• Screenshot all messages — anything where they threatened to share, admitted sharing, demanded money, or acknowledged the images
• Preserve the original conversation, do not delete the chat
• Note any witnesses who saw the content or who told you about it
• Save everything twice: locally and to a cloud account with a password the other person does not know and has never known
• Do not edit or crop anything you are keeping as evidence

If you are worried about looking at the material again, ask a trusted friend or a WAO/AWAM caseworker to help with the preservation step. You do not have to do it alone.

6. Two things people get wrong

"I sent them, so I consented." No. Consenting to send an image to one person is not consent for that person to distribute it. That is precisely the conduct the TAGS award in the June 2026 case addressed. The Minister's public comment on the case was directed at the sharer: do not misuse photographs taken with a former partner.

"It'll make it worse if I report." Understandable, and worth talking through with a support organisation. But the practical reality is that content spreads further when nothing is done, platforms now have legal duties to act, and the tribunal route does not require a criminal trial or public testimony in open court in the way a prosecution would.

What to actually do

In the first hour: 1. Preserve the evidence as set out above. Before anything else. 2. Call someone — Talian Kasih 15999 or WAO 03-3000 8858 / TINA 018-988 8058. 3. Do not pay anyone demanding money. 4. Do not confront the person alone or in writing in a way that could compromise your position — but do keep any messages they send you.

In the first day or two: 5. Report to the platform using its non-consensual intimate imagery route. Keep the reference number. 6. Lodge a police report. Bring your evidence. You can ask for a female officer. 7. Report to MCMC for content on licensed services.

Then, for remedies: 8. TAGS — if the sharing occurred on or after 8 March 2024, file through e-TAGS. Compensation up to RM250,000, apology, and counselling orders are available, on the balance of probabilities. 9. Take legal advice on whether a civil claim adds anything. Bar Council Legal Aid Centres: malaysianbar.org.my. 10. Keep looking after yourself. This is a violation and the practical steps do not make the harm go away. Talian HEAL 15555, Befrienders KL 03-7627 2929.

If the person in the images is under 18, this is child sexual abuse material. Do not distribute it further even to show someone. Report to the police immediately and to Talian Kasih 15999.