The government is considering requiring social media companies to use the national MyDigital ID system to block users under 16 from opening accounts, says Deputy Communications Minister Teo Nie Ching.
She said the government and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) were in discussions with major platforms regarding the implementation of age-verification measures.
“The government’s current proposal is to use MyDigital ID as one of the tools to verify the age of social media users.
“We will discuss this further with platform providers to ensure users under 16 do not have social media accounts,” she said yesterday.
Teo was responding to a question from Khoo Poay Tiong (PH-Kota Melaka) on how the government plans to enforce age restrictions online.
She said similar requirements are being rolled out in many other countries, specifically noting that Australia is set to introduce new rules next month – although it will use a different method of age verification.
Earlier, Teo said the MCMC received 2,937 complaints nationwide on network quality between Jan 1 and Nov 20 this year, according to data recorded by the Consumer Redress Portal.
She said service disruptions made up the bulk of the complaints, accounting for 2,047 cases or 70%.
This was followed by weak 4G/LTE coverage with 274 complaints (12%), slow or unstable internet speeds with 306 complaints (10%), lack of 4G/LTE coverage with 136 complaints (5%) and weak 5G coverage with 109 complaints (4%).
