Following Australia And Indonesia, Malaysia Prepares Regulation On Age Restrictions For Children Accessing Social Media

Illustration of social media (photo: Unsplash)

JAKARTA - Malaysia is the next country that will soon implement restrictions on the use of social media for children under 16 years old, following Australia, Indonesia, and other countries that have implemented it first.

Malaysia's Minister of Communications, Fahmi Fadzil, said that the cabinet had approved the proposed regulation, as a concrete step to protect the easy generation of online harmful content such as cyberbullying, fraud and sexual exploitation.

Fahmi said the government was studying approaches taken by Australia and other countries, and the potential use of age verification using identity cards or passports.

"I believe that if governments, regulatory agencies, and parents play their roles, we can ensure that the Internet in Malaysia is not only fast, widespread and affordable, but most importantly, safe, especially for children and families," he told APNews.

The Australian Parliament became the first country to impose a ban on the use of social media for children under 16 years old on December 10, 2025. This step has also been implemented by several other countries.

The Danish government has also announced earlier this month that it plans to impose a ban on access to social media for anyone under 15 years of age, although details of its regulations are still unclear.

Meanwhile, Indonesia also has similar rules through Government Regulation Number 17 of 2025 concerning Governance for the Implementation of Electronic Systems in Child Protection issued by the Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs (Komdigi) to protect children in the digital space.

This PP regulates parental age and surveillance restrictions to access social media and other digital platforms, prohibits profiling of children's data for commercial purposes, and requires platforms to filter malicious content and provide digital education.