ONLINE SAFETY CAMPAIGN AMONG MINISTRY'S FLAGSHIP PROGRAMMES THIS YEAR - FAHMI 

PUTRAJAYA, Jan 23 (Bernama) -- The Online Safety Campaign is one of the flagship programmes of the Ministry of Communications this year, aimed at ensuring safer internet usage for all segments of society, said Minister Fahmi Fadzil.

He said that the Online Safety Campaign Roadshow, which was launched at Universiti Malaysia Kelantan (UMK) on Jan 21 will be expanded to primary and secondary schools.

“There must be a clear message to ensure that the internet is not just more affordable, more accessible, and faster but, most importantly, safer for our children and families,” he told reporters after attending the ministry's monthly assembly here today.

Also present were his deputy, Teo Nie Ching, the ministry’s secretary-general, Datuk Mohamad Fauzi Md Isa, and the Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama) chief executive officer Datin Paduka Nur-ul Afida Kamaludin.

Fahmi said the campaign began with a focus on public universities (UA), targeting students from the Student Representative Councils (MPP), who are seen as capable of spreading the message of online safety throughout campuses nationwide.

“Moving forward, the campaign must develop modules targeting different groups. We are starting with public universities and will then extend the campaign to schools.

“I hope that the message for children under 13 at primary schools would be to “Say No to Social Media”, while for those at secondary schools, the focus should be on safe internet usage to avoid becoming victims of scams or paedophilia, for them to use the internet, especially social media, safely and wisely,” he said.

Fahmi said the ministry targets to expand the campaign to approximately 10,000 primary and secondary schools, as well as several higher education institutions nationwide, by the end of this year.

He said their teams would subsequently reach out to houses of worship, residential associations, and neighbourhood watch groups to educate and raise awareness about online safety across all segments of society.

Fahmi also said that he had asked the ministry’s secretary-general to invite teams from other agencies to participate in the campaign because online safety issues should not be addressed solely by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), but required cooperation from all parties, including the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) and social media platforms.

-- BERNAMA