KUALA LUMPUR – The government will step up efforts to raise parents’ awareness of the ban on social media accounts for children aged 16 and below through the Safe Internet Campaign, said Deputy Communications Minister Teo Nie Ching.
She said educating parents on their role in supervising and guiding their children’s digital activities would be among the campaign’s key priorities, Bernama reported.
Teo said that while parents could still register digital accounts for their children, stronger preventive measures and responsible online practices at home were essential to support the government’s policy.
“This is one of the key messages we want to convey to parents. The current MADANI Government policy is that children aged 16 and below should not have social media accounts. It is not just about (parents) prohibiting them, but more importantly, educating and guiding (their children).
“Parents need to take responsibility for monitoring online activities and ensuring that devices such as mobile phones or tablets provided to their children are not misused,” she said at a press conference during the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) Convention for the Safe Internet Campaign at the Sri Tebrau Multipurpose Hall here today.
Teo said the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) would take follow-up action on reports involving misuse of accounts by minors by referring the cases to digital platform providers for account removal.
The fourth series of the Safe Internet Campaign held in Johor today focused on the role of PTAs in strengthening awareness and understanding of online safety issues.
The campaign will continue with roadshows in Sabah in September and Sarawak in October.
On the campaign’s progress, Teo said the initiative had reached thousands of educational institutions nationwide.
The programme has been carried out at 5,946 Sekolah Kebangsaan, 2,416 Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan, 1,285 Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Cina and 524 Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Tamil.
Beyond primary and secondary schools, the campaign has also been implemented at 68 institutions of higher learning, 67 Form Six colleges or vocational colleges, and six teacher education institutes.
Malaysia began enforcing age-verification requirements for social media account registration on June 1 under the Child Protection Code and Risk Mitigation Code, introduced by MCMC in accordance with the Online Safety Act 2025.
Under the regulations, individuals below the age of 16 are prohibited from opening social media accounts, while users are required to verify their identities through official documents such as MyKad, passports or MyDigital ID. – August 22, 2026