957 OFFENSIVE CONTENT CASES INVOLVING CHILDREN DETECTED ON SOCIAL MEDIA IN 2025 - MCMC

CYBERJAYA, Dec 3 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has identified 957 cases of offensive content involving children on social media platforms from Jan 1 to Nov 30, 2025.

Of these, 899 pieces of content were successfully removed by the respective social media platforms, achieving a compliance rate of 94 per cent. The platforms that responded most promptly to these actions included Tumblr, TikTok, and Facebook.

As part of its ongoing initiative to prioritise online child safety, MCMC reported that law enforcement cooperation has been stepped up aggressively through joint operations with the police, such as Ops Pedo 1.0 in Dec 2024, which led to the arrest of 13 individuals and the seizure of more than 40,000 materials related to child sexual exploitation.

"Greater success was achieved with Op Pedo 2.0 (Sept 22–30, 2025), resulting in the detention of 31 suspects across 37 locations, including cases involving teachers and foreign nationals," said MCMC in a statement today.

In terms of public education, the Safe Internet Campaign (KIS) has been actively promoted, with the latest phase reaching 8,454 educational institutions, engaging students, parents, educators, and the community.

MCMC also highlighted preparations for the implementation of the Online Safety Act (ONSA) 2025, which includes a minimum age requirement of 16 years for registering social media accounts starting in 2026.

The upcoming KIS 2.0 initiative, set for 2026, will focus on improving digital safety literacy among parents.

In line with the ONSA 2025, MCMC is working on subsidiary instruments to strengthen the obligations of licenced service providers under the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.

"This new approach places child protection as a top priority, including risk management on platforms and preventive measures against harmful content," MCMC said.

The ONSA 2025 introduces a more proactive regulatory framework, clearly defining the responsibilities of platforms to manage high-risk content, such as child abuse material, pornography, harmful content, and material promoting self-harm.

“MCMC remains committed to strengthening online child safety through stringent regulation, integrated enforcement, and ongoing public education," the statement added.

-- BERNAMA