Tag Archives: malaysia

The Dark Web (series)

There’s a dark side to the internet, and you probably don’t even know it exists. Look behind the positive veneer of social media, communication apps and platforms that have made our lives easier and more connected, and you’ll find criminals using the same apps and platforms to run illicit and dangerous activities.

Sextortion syndicates target victims globally through social media. Illegal wildlife trades thrive on social consumer marketplaces. Digital black markets operate anonymously using software designed for press privacy and freedom to sell drugs. Secret child pornography rings run rampant in secret, closed groups and private chats.

This explosive new series lifts the lid on how criminal organisations are thriving in this new digital frontier.


Episode One – The Queen of Sextortion

Sextortion was invented by one woman in the Philippines, Maria Caparas. She turned the idea of making friends online and recording explicit video chats into a profitable blackmail and extortion scam that could not exist without social media. She now runs a mini empire seemingly beyond the reach of authorities, that has led to many suicides.

Episode Two – Wildlife Clickbait

They may look like ordinary posts of exotic pets for sale on social media. But they are feeding a growing trade in illegal and endangered animals in Malaysia and beyond. This criminal industry is worth billions and is jeopardising attempts to protect endangered species.

Episode Three – Black Market Boom

Drugs, guns, counterfeit documents and much more are sold on dark web marketplaces that run on anonymous browsers and using cryptocurrency. AlphaBay was the biggest marketplace, transacting over US$800,000 in a day enabling its founder to live a luxury lifestyle in anonymity, until international law enforcement caught up with him.

Episode Four – The Candyman

It was one of 640 million closed groups on Facebook. Hiding behind the anonymity, the creator of child pornography group Loli Candy and its 7,000 members hid their activities on Facebook and Whatsapp – the dissemination of horrifying images of abuse. While they were eventually bought to justice many more thrive.

A Whisper to a Roar

Whisper to a Roar presents the inspiring and dangerous work of democracy activists in five countries around the world – Egypt, Malaysia, Ukraine, Venezuela and Zimbabwe.

The film’s subjects span the full spectrum of democratic activists: student leaders (Venezuela); young professionals (Egypt); currently active opposition politicians (Malaysia and Zimbabwe) and a former president (Ukraine). These heroes tell their compelling personal stories of struggle with the oppressive regimes ruling their countries, now or in the past.

The activists come from a variety of cultures and live on different continents, yet they all take enormous risks to pursue political freedom for their people and aspire for accountable government. In each country, the regimes and rulers that oppress their people use remarkably similar techniques and the activists’ most successful techniques are also remarkably alike, regardless of their circumstances.

The presence in the film of accomplished democrats, both the famous and the unsung, from diverse cultures and religions, will inspire and instruct viewers around the world of widely varying ages, nationalities, and political persuasions.

“This deft digest from the director Ben Moses is by turns shocking and inspiring…”
New York Times

“In the case of the new documentary A Whisper to a Roar, democracy and the fight for freedom are not only moving, but also deeply personal, thought-provoking and inspiring.”
The Huffington Post

“An expertly drawn primer on the soft dictatorships that constrained five different countries and the peaceful revolutions that sought to expunge them”
The Village Voice

“The film is not only a riveting documentary, but also offers inspiration to people everywhere who seek to make governments accountable to the citizens they serve”
Hillary Clinton