KUALA LUMPUR – The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has pledged to enhance its efforts in safeguarding children from online harms, in response to recent parliamentary criticism.
The commission acknowledged the concerns raised by the Parliamentary Special Select Committee on Women and Children Affairs, which criticised MCMC for its insufficient monitoring capacity and financial commitment to combating harmful online content.
“We are fully aware of the committee’s concerns and are committed to improving our response to online child safety,” said MCMC in a statement.
The commission also highlighted ongoing measures to strengthen the monitoring of social media platforms, which have been identified as a major source of offensive content involving children.
Between January 1 and November 30, 2025, MCMC identified 957 cases of such content across various platforms. Of these, 899 were successfully removed, resulting in a 94% compliance rate. Platforms like Tumblr, TikTok, and Facebook were praised for their prompt responses.
“The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) acknowledges the findings of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Online Child Safety and appreciates the serious attention given to this issue,” the commission added.
As part of its ongoing commitment to online child safety, MCMC has ramped up law enforcement cooperation through joint operations such as Ops Pedo 1.0 in December 2024, which led to the arrest of 13 individuals and the seizure of over 40,000 materials related to child sexual exploitation.
“Greater success was achieved with Op Pedo 2.0 (September 22–30, 2025), resulting in the detention of 31 suspects across 37 locations, including cases involving teachers and foreign nationals,” MCMC said.
The Safe Internet Campaign (KIS), which promotes digital safety awareness, has been active in over 8,400 educational institutions, engaging students, parents, educators, and the wider community.
In line with the upcoming Online Safety Act (ONSA) 2025, which will require social media users to be at least 16 years old by 2026, MCMC is preparing for the next phase of its Safe Internet Campaign (KIS 2.0), which will focus on improving digital literacy among parents.
Additionally, MCMC is developing subsidiary instruments to reinforce the obligations of licensed service providers under the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, prioritising child protection and risk management on platforms.
The ONSA 2025 introduces a proactive regulatory framework to define platform responsibilities in managing high-risk content, including child abuse material, pornography, harmful content, and material promoting self-harm.
“MCMC remains committed to strengthening online child safety through stringent regulation, integrated enforcement, and continuous public education,” the statement concluded.
Despite these efforts, yesterday the Parliamentary Select Committee expressed concerns over MCMC’s financial allocation and monitoring capacity. Yeo Bee Yin (PH–Puchong), chairperson of the committee, pointed out that despite MCMC’s annual income of RM1.2 billion to RM1.6 billion, the commission’s allocation for monitoring harmful content remains minimal.
“MCMC currently has just 56 officers monitoring online risks, including pornography and exploitative content, which children can easily access. Moreover, much of the monitoring process remains manual, relying heavily on keyword searches rather than automated systems or AI,” Yeo said.
The committee’s report, tabled on December 2, 2025, identified three key gaps in addressing the impact of unregulated online exposure: limited enforcement capacity due to legal constraints, non-compliance by global platforms, and insufficient monitoring capabilities at MCMC.
Yeo also stressed that children’s mental health should be managed by trained professionals, not overburdened teachers, and called for greater resources to support the National Centre of Excellence for Mental Health (NCEMH) to handle increasing cases related to children’s digital safety.
The committee’s recommendations include doubling MCMC’s funding for monitoring, adopting more advanced technology, and increasing human-resource expertise to address these gaps.
“MCMC should also allocate part of its CSR resources to NCEMH to help prevent and treat digital addiction,” Yeo added.
Additionally, the committee urged the Education Ministry and MCMC to launch a nationwide digital safety awareness campaign, focusing on digital literacy for parents and enabling parental control features in schools.
The committee also recommended that the Home Ministry review Sections 375 and 376 of the Penal Code to ensure more equitable treatment in statutory rape cases involving minors.
Yeo concluded by calling for urgent government action to address these concerns, urging the Finance Ministry to allocate dedicated funds and the Public Service Department to approve additional posts across all relevant ministries. – December 3, 2025