KUCHING: Social media users will need to verify their age with government-issued documents from June 1, following changes to the Online Safety Act 2025 by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC).
To prevent users under the age of 16 from opening social media accounts, users will need to upload their identity cards, passports or other official documents after two codes were implemented under the Act.
Deputy Communications Minister Teo Nie Ching said the codes - the Children's Protection Code (CPC) and the Risk Mitigation Code (RMC) - make it mandatory for social media platforms to implement age verification.
“Users need to verify their age using government-issued documents such as identity cards, passports or other official documents.
"If it is merely self-declared, anyone can simply click and claim they are above 18 years old," she told reporters after officiating the Safe Internet Campaign Community Carnival here on Friday (May 22).
Teo said, however, that MCMC had not prescribed any specific technology that platforms must use for the age verification process.
She said the government will provide a reasonable period for social media platforms to implement age-verification processes for existing accounts before enforcement action is taken.
"For existing accounts that have yet to complete age verification, MCMC is still discussing a reasonable timeframe after engaging with the involved social media platforms, including TikTok, Facebook and Instagram.
"Those who fail to complete verification may have their accounts closed, or the social media platforms may need to use artificial intelligence to ensure users are aged 16 and above," she said.
Teo said the government had previously decided that children under the age of 16 were not allowed to open or own social media accounts on platforms with more than eight million users in Malaysia.
She said the two codes were published following engagement sessions with industry players, civil society organisations and stakeholders conducted since the beginning of this year.
Earlier, in her speech, Teo said that from January to April this year alone, a total of 23,367 online scam cases were reported involving losses amounting to RM680.3mil.
She said that since the Safe Internet Campaign was launched in January 2025 until April 30 this year, more than 11,000 programmes had been carried out nationwide involving over 1.8 million participants comprising school students, youths, parents, educators, senior citizens and local communities. - Bernama
