KOTA KINABALU: National Information Dissemination Centre (Nadi) managers and advisers must plan parent focused online safety programmes within a week, says Communications Minister Datuk Fahmi Fadzil.
He said the campaign must focus on preventing and limiting underage social media use, and warned that training and allowances will be terminated if they fail.
“This is the first order,” he said at an engagement session at Nadi Bandar Putra on Thursday (Oct 16).
“If this is not implemented, training will be terminated and allowances will not be paid,” he added.
He announced an allowance increase for Nadi managers and assistant managers for the first time in ten years, adding that it recognises their commitment to community support.
Earlier, he urged parents not to use gadgets as substitutes for educating and spending time with their children.
Fahmi said parents must actively monitor what their children watch and consume on social media.
He said many children already have social media access and even their own pages despite being underage.
“When children are given gadgets, phones or tablets, parents must know what they are watching,” he said.
Fahmi said young users are vulnerable to harmful content, fraud sites and explicit images and videos.
He said algorithms can lead children to such content, whether they search for it or not.
Fahmi then said the ministry will continue monitoring community level cyber safety efforts to raise public awareness.
