Safe Internet Campaign Focuses On Parental Role, Social Media Ban For Under-16s - Teo

JOHOR BAHRU, Aug 22 (Bernama) -- Efforts to raise parents’ awareness of the ban on social media accounts for children under the age of 16 will be intensified through the Safe Internet Campaign, said Deputy Communications Minister Teo Nie Ching.

She said the key message would be a major focus of the government in ensuring that parents more closely monitor and guide their children’s use of digital devices.

She said that although parents were still allowed to register digital accounts for their children, preventive measures and self-regulation at home were critical to complying with the government’s current policy.

“This is one of the key messages we want to convey to parents. The current MADANI Government policy is that children aged 16 and below should not have social media accounts. It is not just about (parents) prohibiting them, but more importantly, educating and guiding (their children).

“Parents need to take responsibility for monitoring online activities and ensuring that devices such as mobile phones or tablets provided to their children are not misused,” she said at a press conference during the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) Convention for the Safe Internet Campaign at the Sri Tebrau Multipurpose Hall here today.

On enforcement, Teo said the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) would take follow-up action on any reports of misuse of accounts involving minors by submitting reports to digital platform providers for the purpose of taking down the accounts.

In this regard, the fourth series of the Safe Internet Campaign in Johor today, which focused on the role of PTAs, served as the main platform to broaden understanding of the issue, before the campaign roadshow moves to Sabah in September and Sarawak in October.

On the campaign’s achievements to date, Teo said the programme had been implemented extensively, involving thousands of educational institutions nationwide.

This included 5,946 Sekolah Kebangsaan, 2,416 Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan, 1,285 Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Cina and 524 Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Tamil.

In addition to primary and secondary schools, the campaign has also been conducted at 68 institutions of higher learning, 67 Form Six colleges or vocational colleges and six teacher education institutes.

Malaysia began enforcing age-verification requirements for social media account registration on June 1 under the Child Protection Code and Risk Mitigation Code, implemented by MCMC pursuant to the Online Safety Act 2025.

Under the regulations, individuals under the age of 16 are not allowed to open social media accounts, while users are required to verify their identities using official documents such as the MyKad, passport or MyDigital ID.

-- BERNAMA