JAKARTA - Malaysia has started to impose a ban on social media accounts for children under 16 years of age. This rule targets large platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.
Kyodo News, quoted Monday, June 1, reported that the rule applies to platforms with at least 8 million users. Companies are required to install an age verification system and block users under 16 years old from creating accounts.
If they do not comply, companies can be fined up to 10 million ringgit or around 2.5 million US dollars. However, parents will not be sanctioned if their children manage to circumvent the rules.
The Malaysian government said this rule was made to protect children from harmful content, cyberbullying, and app features that encourage excessive use.
The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) emphasized that this ban is not to keep children away from the internet or digital technology. The target is to force service providers to create a safer digital space for children.
"These measures help strengthen the protection of children in the online environment, while providing additional security for parents in the face of increasingly complex digital risks," the regulator said in a statement last month.
Platforms are also asked to implement safety features from the design stage. Including protection from manipulative displays or features that make it difficult for users to stop using the application.
The tech company has so far not explained in detail how they meet the new rules. The regulator has given a grace period for the platform to complete the age verification system.
Malaysia's move follows the trend of a number of countries. Australia, Brazil, and Indonesia have introduced or announced age-based restrictions on children's access to social media. The United Kingdom, France, Spain, Denmark, Thailand, and South Korea are also studying similar approaches.
However, this rule is not free from criticism. Clara Koh, Meta's Public Policy Director for Southeast Asia, in April warned that a blanket ban on children under 16 could backfire.
According to Koh, teenagers can be encouraged to leave apps that have protection features and move to an unregulated internet space. Meta, said Koh, has launched "teen accounts" for users under 18 with contact restrictions, screen time, and exposure to inappropriate content.
Another concern comes from the data privacy side. Benjamin Loh, a lecturer in social sciences at Monash University Malaysia, assessed that this rule follows a global trend, but raises alarms because age verification requires official government identification.
Loh also said that age-based restrictions have not been proven to be consistently effective in other countries. Without sanctions for parents, families can still create accounts for their children.
"This is a big gap that, unless regulators are willing to fix it, will make the law only have a small impact in stopping children from using social media," said Loh.
The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language. (system supported by DigitalSiber.id)
