FAHMI REITERATES CALL FOR SOCIAL MEDIA AGE LIMIT

PUTRAJAYA, Dec 6 (Bernama) -- Communications Minister Datuk Fahmi Fadzil has once again underscored the need to introduce a minimum age of 16 for social media use, saying it is essential to protect children and teenagers from exploitation and exposure to harmful online content.

Citing a recent incident in which a 10-year-old pupil asked a teacher for explicit photos via WhatsApp, Fahmi said it was a stark reminder of why tighter social media restrictions for young users are necessary.

He said the incident was reported by a teacher in Kuala Lumpur, who said her Year Four pupil had sent her the inappropriate message via the app.

“We hope issues like this can be addressed through tighter controls on social media platforms and messaging services like WhatsApp. We’re not trying to ban every application, but at this point, our main concern is social media.

“I believe the Education Ministry (MOE) is already aware of incidents like these,” he said at a press conference after officiating the closing ceremony of the 2025 Safe Internet Campaign Mega Carnival at the IOI City Mall Exhibition and Convention Centre here today.

Also present were Deputy Communications Minister Teo Nie Ching, the ministry’s secretary-general Datuk Abdul Halim Hamzah, Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) managing director Abdul Karim Fakir Ali and Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama) chief executive officer Datin Paduka Nur-ul Afida Kamaludin.

Fahmi noted that the ministry is working closely with the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform), Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said, to implement the Online Safety Act (OnSA) 2024, which aims to ensure safe internet use.

He said the Act allows fines of up to RM10 million, but the ministry is still reviewing appropriate mechanisms to implement and enforce social media age restrictions, drawing on examples from other countries, including Australia.

“We will engage with social media platforms to develop a framework suitable for Malaysia, such as identity verification using official government documents like MyKad or MyPR and passports for non-citizens.

“We have also reached out to the Australian High Commission to obtain the latest information on the implementation of their age limit policy, which will take effect on Dec 10. Social media platforms there have already begun blocking or deleting accounts that do not meet the requirement,” he explained.

Meanwhile, Fahmi said the Safe Internet Campaign organised by MCMC will continue early next year, following its success in attracting participation from 8,462 schools involving 369,005  students nationwide as of Nov 30.

“Initially, we aimed to reach 10,000 schools. Next year, we will visit more schools and expand the campaign into Safe Internet Campaign 2.0, involving more communities, including neighbourhood associations, parents and places of worship, to ensure online safety reaches the wider society,” he said.

In a statement, MCMC said that the focus for 2026 will be to continue conducting the campaign in schools and higher education institutions, while expanding its reach to other internet users, including seniors, youth and parents.

Previously, it said the campaign was expanded to include communities, government agencies, the private sector and civil society organisations, encompassing 466 programmes and reaching 287,939 participants.

The Safe Internet Mega Carnival featured a range of key activities, including the grand final of an inter-university debate held for the first time, forums, online safety exhibitions by various agencies and interactive booth activities, attracting nearly 3,000 visitors.

-- BERNAMA