He said several meetings had been held with Telegram to discuss the issue, the latest being in April, Bernama reported.

Digital piracy on the Telegram app has returned as a hot topic following a complaint by prolific producer and director Shahrulezad Mohameddin after discovering that his latest film, Khunsa, was being made available for viewing on Telegram.

He requested that the communications ministry intervene through the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to fight such rampant digital piracy.

Fahmi said the ministry and MCMC required a bit of time to tackle the issue as the platform was not based in Malaysia.

“We see it happening on several platforms, especially Telegram.

“We’ve received complaints, including from Astro, about pirated films being distributed on the platform.

“This requires the cooperation of the distributors, copyright owners as well as supervisory bodies like MCMC.

“I hope that other platforms will also fight digital piracy,” he told reporters before the special screening of the hit movie, ‘Sheriff: Narko Integriti’, here tonight.

“Maybe people don’t quite understand the law in Malaysia.

“MCMC has held several discussions (with those involved) over this copyright issue. Hopefully, this problem can be handled better soon,” he said.