Keeping our children safe online

PETALING JAYA: Stricter laws and awareness programmes in schools are among the mechanisms that Malaysia can learn from other countries to protect children when they are online and on social media, experts say.

Social media platforms could also be mandated to show educational videos on how to keep children safe online when these apps are downloaded and installed, they added.

Their suggestions follow the government’s announcement that it will meet TikTok over findings that Malaysian children under 13 were on the platform despite the fact that its community guidelines state that users must be above that age.

Prof Dr Mohamed Ridza Wahiddin of the International Islamic University said the “Protecting Kids on Social media Act” of the United States is an example that can be used to forge a Malaysian guideline.

The US Act forces all social media platforms to institute age requirements and parental consent for users, said Dr Riza, founder of Malaysia’s Centre of Excellence for Cybersecurity.

“Right now, TikTok does not allow those under 13 to create their own accounts but there are loopholes,” he said.

The China-based content creating platform TikTok does not allow those under 13 to own accounts but reports on international media claimed that there are ways to override the restriction by simply stating that such accounts are “monitored by their parents”.

Ridza, however, cautioned that a new legal framework is not enough to keep children safe.

“The Education Ministry should seriously consider value-based education as a more comprehensive solution,” he told The Star.

Assistant Professor Dr Gan Su Wan of Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) said social media apps should be required to embed safety videos before someone opens an account.

“I propose that authorities incorporate information on the safe use of social media directly within all social media apps,” said Gan of UTAR’s Psychology and Counselling Department.

“For instance, upon downloading a social media app, users could be introduced to an educational video on child online safety, similar to a user manual that users would need to navigate through step by step before fully engaging with the app’s functions,” she said.

Gan added that parents should be taught to adjust privacy settings and effectively manage the digital content that their children have access to so as to protect them from paedophiles and scammers.

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) associate professor Dr Masnizah Mohd said the government must plug loopholes and inconsistencies in its laws regarding online content.

This is since a 2021 study to critically review the legal frameworks on cyber security for children in the Asean region found loopholes in laws relating to age of consent, possession of child pornography, cyberbullying and grooming.

“Previously, the government had announced a technical committee involving online security issues especially involving children. This committee could work on creating the laws and enforcing regulations to protect children online,” said Masnizah, who is deputy dean of the Information Science and Technology faculty.

“The government must also look into strengthening the existing policies and their enforcement to better protect children going online.”