One in four children in Malaysia has come across sexual or disturbing content online without expecting it, says Unicef representative to Malaysia Robert Gass.
On top of that, some 100,000 children experience online sexual exploitation or abuse each year, he said.
He added that while technology gives children extraordinary opportunities to learn, create and connect, advances in artificial intelligence, rapid connectivity and digital access are outpacing the laws, regulations and systems designed to protect them, exposing these same children to new and growing dangers.
Gass, however, noted that keeping children offline is not protection, it’s a limitation.
“Real safety comes from creating a digital world that prioritises children, where safety, privacy and inclusion are embedded by design, not added as an afterthought.
“Technology and digital companies must take responsibility for the environments they create, ensuring that every product, platform and app is designed with children’s safety, rights and well-being at its very core,” he said during the launch of the Asean ICT Forum on Child Protection in KL on Nov 18.
Meanwhile, statistics from Unicef’s Disrupting Harm in Malaysia report from 2022 indicate that 96% of 12- to 17-year-olds go online at least once a day, almost all using their smartphones.
This is up from 91% in 2020, with 70% exposed to disturbing content, based on a similar survey carried out by Unicef’s Our Lives Online.
More worryingly, nearly a quarter (24%) of children had unexpectedly come across sexual content online through advertisements, social media feeds, search engines and messaging apps, while 17% reported actively looking for such material.
Children aged 16 to 17 and boys were also found to be the most likely groups to be exposed to sexual images and videos online.
Describing the data as sobering, CyberSecurity Malaysia chief executive officer Datuk Dr Amirudin Abdul Wahab said children’s exposure to harmful content is widespread.
“These data point to a serious, ongoing problem to which many children and adolescents are gravely vulnerable – from sexual exploitation and abuse to cyberbullying, harmful content and emotional harm – and a significant portion may suffer in silence,” he added.
