Over 100 Bernama Staff Attend Briefing On 'Sharenting'

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 26 (Bernama) -- More than 100 staff of the Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama) were briefed on the risks of ‘sharenting’ on social media through a talk titled 'Sharenting: Sharing Joy or Inviting Danger?' today.

The hybrid session, attended by Bernama staff from headquarters and state bureaus, was delivered by Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) deputy director of Institutional Relations and Strategic Engagement Department, Saiful Ridzwan Mat Darus.

“Basically, ‘sharenting’ refers to parents who share too much about their children (especially on social media), particularly those who are underage.

“They share everything — their children’s photos, activity details, all sorts of data — which is worrying because with today’s artificial intelligence (AI) technology, such data can be manipulated. So it’s important for us to understand proper sharenting practices,” he said when met after the briefing organised by Bernama's Centre of Excellence here.

Saiful Ridzwan said when parents overexpose their children’s data, particularly photos, on social media and it is manipulated by irresponsible parties using AI for malicious purposes, it could make their children vulnerable to bullying.

He said Bernama was the first venue for the briefing session on sharenting, which will be extended to other agencies as part of efforts to raise awareness on safe internet use.

Meanwhile, MCMC assistant director of Institutional Relations and Strategic Engagement Department, Juliana Yek Yen Chyng, who also conducted the briefing, said the programme also highlighted internet misuse, especially AI deepfake scams on social media.

“AI today can do many things, including mimicking voices and faces in videos — many people are unaware of the dangers.

“Some use celebrities’ images and voices to create videos that can scam people or spread fake news. That’s why this course is important to raise public awareness,” she said.

-- BERNAMA