Blueprint for youth online safety

Photo posed by models/The Star

THE government’s plan to restrict children under 16 from accessing social media by June, using the framework of the Online Safety Act (Onsa), signals a strong commitment to youth protection. However, a “total lockout” approach and the proposed MyKad-based age verification raise critical practical and cybersecurity concerns.

A sweeping ban is a blunt regulatory tool that is notoriously difficult to enforce. Banning youths will inevitably drive some to use virtual private networks (which create encrypted Internet connections that allow private browsing) or migrate to encrypted messaging apps like Telegram, rendering them entirely invisible to parents and regulators. What we need is to foster digital literacy alongside these restrictions.