IN the modern world, growing up now means growing up online for many Malaysian children.
The digital realm is where they learn, play and make friends, but it is also where they can be groomed, bullied and exploited, often entirely out of sight of the adults around them.
The Online Safety Act 2025 (ONSA), enforced on Jan 1 this year, is the nation’s response to this growing problem.
The scale of the problem explains the urgency.
Since 2024, the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) have exposed more than 1.47 million digital files across four extensive operations.
Out of these, 204,934 contained child sexual abuse material (CSAM). These operations resulted in 117 arrests, with over 100 individuals already charged.
Consequently, the Act shifts safety responsibilities directly onto the digital and social media platforms whose systems reach children. It is backed by new codes of conduct and a minimum age threshold for account registration.
From access to manipulation
Local non-governmental organisation, Protect & Save The Children (P.S. The Children)’s executive director, Amnani A. Kadir, said the Act is particularly important in today’s day and age as the nature of exploitation has evolved.
“The digital environment has shifted exploitation from physical access to psychological manipulation, while also scaling harm through networks,” she said.
She added that before ONSA was introduced, most online safety systems depended on children or parents reporting harm after it occurred, an approach she considers ineffective.
“It places the responsibility on children who may not recognise grooming, online bullying, ‘trolling’ or hate speech when it first occurs.
“When cases are reported, the process is often slow and complex. Investigations require collecting digital evidence, tracing anonymous accounts and recovering content that may have been deleted.
“So harm still spreads while systems respond after the fact. Children need stronger protections and early intervention to stop harm before it escalates,” she explained.
Amnani noted that for victims, the long-term impact of these experiences can include anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, social withdrawal and even self-harm.
She also pointed to platform design, as predators and cybercriminals often exploit the reach of social media to engage children at scale.
“Any decision about children in the digital space must balance their right to participate with their right to be safe. The challenge is that many platforms were not designed with the best interests of children in mind.
“Their systems are built to maximise engagement for profit, often exposing children to risks such as manipulation, harmful content and exploitation.
“In reality, online abuse can be persistent and invasive. Hurtful messages, threats or manipulation can follow a child across platforms and remain in their mind long after the screen is turned off.”
Placing responsibility where it belongs
The reliance on after-the-fact reporting is the gap ONSA was designed to close.
By establishing accountability for platform providers, the Act shifts the burden of safety away from children and families.
Malaysian Cyber Consumer Association (MCCA) president Siraj Jalil said ONSA reflects a broader understanding of where the risks now lie.
“The government is taking the responsibility to not only protect consumers, but also the infrastructure system itself from being abused by cybercriminals.
“That is why ONSA is very important, because it enables the government to place more responsibility on the platforms to take accountability and collaborate in terms of digital security,”said Siraj.
He noted that the social engineering tactics employed by predators and cybercriminals keep evolving, including the exploitation of marketplaces on social media platforms.
“The safety awareness is not there, in terms of cyber hygiene, because we still see the failures of consumers,” Siraj said, highlighting how many social media users, even seasoned adults, fall victim to online scams.
“Problems also occur when people are not well-educated about digital behaviour and etiquette, which is why we see a lot of ‘toxic’ content.”
Multiple measures,one objective
To bolster the Act and give it practical effect, two codes of conduct, namely the Child Protection Code (CPC) and Risk Mitigation Code (RMC), came into force this year on June1.
Together, they set out what is expected of platform providers in safeguarding users, with a particular focus on children.
CPC requires platform providers to apply safety by design, including restricting account registration and ownership for those under 16, introducing age-appropriate protections and limiting certain functions that could expose children to risk.
This includes parental controls, tools that let children manage who sees their personal information and limits on strangers who are adults contacting child users directly.
RMC, meanwhile, requires providers to put in place proactive and comprehensive measures to mitigate the risk of harmful content, including risk assessments, stronger content governance, effective reporting and response mechanisms, advertiser verification and labelling of manipulated content.
Providers must also set up internal assurance functions to monitor whether these measures actually work.
Additionally, among the most visible measures is the Tunggu16 initiative, which sets a mandatory minimum age of 16 for creating a social media account.
To make the threshold meaningful, platforms are required to put in place secure age verification mechanisms using MyKad, passports or MyDigital ID.
A local teacher from Shah Alam, Eugene Ngo, said that the change brings both relief and opportunity for educators.
He believes the measure can help students build skills that screens do not teach.
“The under-16 social media ban has the potential to support the development of soft skills, as it encourages students to engage more in real-life interactions during their formative years.
“At the same time, it provides an opportunity for teachers and parents to guide students in understanding the digital world in a more structured and age-appropriate manner,”he said.
Ngo added ONSA gives educators firmer footing, which enables them to set appropriate boundaries with students on their digital usage and exposure.
“By placing the responsibility on platforms to monitor and remove harmful content, the Act gives us a stronger foundation to address issues like cyberbullying, inappropriate trends or constant digital distractions.
“It strengthens our authority and provides a framework to help students navigate the digital world responsibly,” he said.
Shared responsibility
Despite the comprehensive frameworks and guidelines now put in place, legislation alone will not make the internet safer for children.
That is where public education comes in to fill the gap.
Through the Safe Internet Campaign (KIS) initiative, MCMC continues to promote civic education on responsible usage and safe online behaviour.
The campaign complements the new legal framework to emphasise multi-stakeholder accountability, recognising that platforms, regulators, schools, families and communities all have a part to play.
For Malaysia’s children, the goal is to foster a digital space where they can learn, connect and grow without being left to fend for themselves.
With ONSA, its new codes of conduct, and the Tunggu16 and KIS initiatives now in place, the foundation for that safer space is being laid.
For more information, visit mcmc.gov.my.
