CYBERJAYA — All adults are urged to take collective responsibility in ensuring children’s online safety and well-being, Online Safety Committee (OSC) chairman Tan Sri Hasnah Mohammed Hashim said.
She said the responsibility should not rest solely on parents, but also teachers, babysitters, relatives including aunts and uncles, as well as the wider community.
“I think all adults who are taking care of children must be responsible, babysitters, parents, aunties and uncles as well.
“All Malaysians have to be responsible when it comes to children, to make sure that their interests are taken care of and not taken advantage of…and that their safety, physically and mentally are looked after,” Bernama reports her saying in a recent interview in conjunction with the implementation of the ONSA codes on child protection and risk mitigation effective June 1.
The retired chief judge of Malaya also stressed the need for greater public awareness and collective responsibility in protecting children from online exploitation, abuse and harmful content, as well as neglect and other forms of mistreatment.
Hasnah said parents and legal guardians must play a more active role in monitoring their children’s online activities, as children today are more digitally savvy at a younger age.
“You have a child of nine years old who knows better than a teenager. So with all the risks out there on social media, parents or legal guardians have to monitor and be more aware of what their child is looking at,” she said.
Even seemingly harmless online content may pose dangers to children, including exposure to predators, scams and inappropriate material disguised as child-friendly content, she said.
Hasnah also expressed concern over parents oversharing photographs and videos of their children on social media, saying many may not fully understand the long-term risks and consequences involved.
She said the committee would continue to study approaches adopted in other countries while ensuring that any recommendations made are suitable for Malaysia’s social and legal environment.
Hasnah said the OSC, which acts as a neutral body under the Online Safety Act 2025 (ONSA), would recommend appropriate measures and guidelines to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to improve online safety and platform accountability.
“We are a neutral entity to ensure that providers are responsible and to provide guidelines for users in the future,” she said.
Hasnah added that efforts to raise awareness should move beyond conventional printed materials and focus more on visual and digital approaches, including podcasts and videos, to better reach parents and the wider public.
“Probably there should be more podcasts about child awareness because to understand a certain subject matter, you also have to watch and listen. I think many people do not understand the risks that exist,” she said.
ONSA, which came into effect on Jan 1, 2026, aims to create a safer Internet environment, especially for children and families, by establishing clear responsibilities for online platform providers to remove harmful content and to detect, prevent and respond more swiftly.
Along with that, two new codes under ONSA, the Child Protection Code and Risk Mitigation Code will take effect on June 1, requiring digital platforms to take stricter action against harmful content and to better protect children online. – May 30, 2026