PUTRAJAYA: A decision on restricting social media access for children under 16 is expected within weeks, with the government eyeing implementation as early as June or July after ongoing engagements with platforms.
Communications Minister Datuk Fahmi Fadzil (pic) said service providers have indicated readiness to comply as the government moves closer to finalising age verification measures to strengthen online protections for minors.
He said the move is expected to be implemented by the end of June, subject to final review.
“The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) is currently conducting a regulatory sandbox with social media platforms to identify mechanisms currently used by service providers.
“Secondly, we want to standardise the mechanism. We are not looking at just ‘age assurance’, but ‘age verification’, as Malaysia’s legal framework differs in that we have official government documents such as the MyKad,” Fahmi told reporters after attending the Communications Ministry’s monthly assembly here yesterday.
Also present were Deputy Communications Minister Datuk Teo Nie Ching, Communications Ministry secretary-general Datuk Abdul Halim Hamzah and Bernama chief executive officer Datin Paduka Nur-ul Afida Kamaludin, Bernama reported.
Fahmi said MCMC has held in-depth discussions on the proposed restrictions with social media platforms in Singapore last Friday.
“They are currently reviewing the matter and will present it to me, possibly within the next week.
“We will then decide, and we hope to implement the restrictions around June or July,” he said.
Fahmi added that several social media platforms have expressed readiness to implement the restrictions, with further discussions expected to be tabled soon before a final decision is made.
Media reports have indicated that restrictions on social media access for children are gaining traction globally, following Australia’s move to ban users under 16 last year due to the negative impact of such platforms on young users.
On another matter, Fahmi said a total of 299 pieces of fake content related to the global energy crisis have been taken down by social media platform providers so far.
He said the number was out of 450 pieces of fake content identified by MCMC ordered to be taken down from March 29 to yesterday morning.
Fahmi said 147 pieces of content related to the Strait of Hormuz had been requested to be taken down, with 122 of them taken down this morning.
“The platform where false information was spread the most was Facebook with 180 items of content involving various issues, while the second most was TikTok with 134 items of content,” he said.
According to Fahmi, the increase in false content on Threads was likely related to the ownership of accounts that were interconnected between Facebook and Instagram, thus making it easier for users to open accounts on the platform.
He also said 57 investigation papers have been opened so far regarding the dissemination of false content related to the global energy crisis.
