KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 12 (Bernama) -- In conjunction with Safer Internet Day 2025, four like-minded organisations have joined forces to launch Youths IRL (In Real Life), a fellowship designed to equip young changemakers with the knowledge and skills to champion online safety and scams awareness in the community.
The organisations are Ratio:Cause, CelcomDigi Berhad, Communications and Multimedia Content Forum of Malaysia (Content Forum), and Meta Platforms, Inc.
The Youths IRL fellowship said that 10 promising youths, aged between 18 and 25, from Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Kedah, Perak, Sabah, and Sarawak were selected based on their strong interest in online safety issues, critical thinking skills and ideas for solutions or measures to address the issues.
“Through mentorship from the Ministry of Communications, CelcomDigi, Content Forum, PayNet, and CyberSecurity Malaysia, they will be trained in online safety, scam awareness, and digital fluency while gaining a foundation in public policy.
“These youths will also engage in forums to discuss the on-ground realities and challenges faced by the digital society and identify the gap in legislation to ensure that policies and regulations remain relevant and effective in addressing online safety issues,” it said in a statement today.
At the end of the three-month fellowship, it said that these digital natives youths would develop a working paper with policy recommendations on online content and internet governance, which would be presented to the Ministry of Communications.
It added that the fellowship is part of a holistic programme called the Online Safety IRL campaign, aimed at empowering Malaysians with online safety habits and perspectives to combat the rise in online harms such as scams, online child abuse, and cyberbullying.
"The campaign also includes the Creators IRL fellowship, where 10 social media influencers and content creators were equipped with creative strategies to integrate online safety knowledge into their content, strengthening community resilience against online harms through their platforms.
“Together, the overall Online Safety IRL social media campaign has produced over 40 videos across platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok focusing on scam awareness, child online safety, and anti-cyberbullying, dangers on online gaming websites, and actions to take if encountered any such threats including awareness on the National Scam Resource Centre’s 997 hotline,” it said.
Supporting this programme, Deputy Communications Minister Teo Nie Ching was quoted as saying that there is a need for continuous engagement with youths and content creators in improving the safety of digital spaces.
“Tackling online threats requires a balanced approach, holding perpetrators accountable while empowering internet users with knowledge to protect themselves. By equipping youths with knowledge of online safety and including youth voices in policymaking, we aim to work towards digital policies that reflect the experiences of internet users.
“The Ministry of Communications aims to cultivate a digital environment that nurtures creativity, innovation, and freedom of expression while upholding the law. We are thankful for the content creators, youth leaders, and stakeholders in the social media and telecommunications industries who have committed themselves to working with us in achieving these goals.
“We are proud of the progress we have made so far, and we look forward to what we can continue to achieve through our future collective efforts,” she said.
To find out more information on the programmes and view the output from Creators IRL fellows, please visit onlinesafetyirl.com and follow @heycreatorsirl on Instagram and TikTok. To stay updated on Youths IRL, please follow @youthsirl on Instagram and TikTok.
-- BERNAMA
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