GOVT MULLS USING MYDIGITAL ID TO VERIFY AGE OF SOCIAL MEDIA USERS - TEO

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 24 (Bernama) -- The government is considering the use of MyDigital ID as one of the mechanisms to verify the age of social media account owners, said Deputy Communications Minister Teo Nie Ching.

She said the move is to ensure that users of social media platforms are not under the age of 16, in line with the government’s efforts to safeguard the safety and well-being of children in the digital space.

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“The government proposes to use MyDigital ID as one of the tools or mechanisms to verify the age of social media users. We will discuss this further with the platform providers,” she said during the question-and-answer session in the Dewan Rakyat today.

She was responding to a supplementary question from Khoo Poay Tiong (PH-Kota Melaka), who asked how the government intends to enforce the ban on children under 16, and the challenges of implementation on international social media platforms.

Teo added that the move to impose a minimum age requirement for social media accounts is not new, as several countries, including Australia, have already adopted a similar approach.

In another development, Teo said the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) received 812 complaints regarding the dissemination of false content or fake news, nationwide, from Jan 1 to Nov 20, as recorded through the Consumer Redress Portal (CRP).

She said the complaints included the spread of false information related to government initiatives, such as the Sumbangan Tunai Rahmah (STR) and Sumbangan Asas Rahmah (SARA).

“In addition, there were complaints regarding the dissemination of false information, which is intended to create anxiety and panic among the public,” she said.

Teo said this in her reply to a question from Captain (Rtd) Datuk Dr Zulkafperi Hanapi (Tanjong Karang), who asked about statistics on public complaints regarding Internet/5G coverage and the spread of fake news on social media platforms, including the number of complaints, actions taken, and trends from early 2025 until now.

-- BERNAMA