Fahmi: Govt proposes raising minimum social media age to 16 to curb social issues in schools

Communications Minister Datuk Fahmi Fadzil said the Malaysian government plans to raise the minimum age for social media use from the current 13 years old to 16 years old. The move, which was also made by the Australian government, is aimed at addressing social issues among teens following the rise of violent incidents at schools in Malaysia.

A few days ago, he said that Malaysia will be pushing for social media platforms to impose mandatory eKYC (electronic Know Your Customer) verification to protect children from online harm.

Fahmi said the government is exploring the necessity and mechanisms for requiring social media accounts to be registered using official government documents such as MyKad, MyDigital ID and passports.

He added that the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) along with the relevant agencies will be meeting various social media platforms in Singapore next week to discuss the feasibility and technical aspects of the mechanism. For the time being, the decision today is made at the policy level and he said that further updates will be provided after he receives the report from the discussions held in Singapore.

Fahmi said the proposed registration mechanism for social media platforms may be similar to current eKYC process implemented by eWallets.

After confirmation that the recent school murder suspect had purchased weapons online, Fahmi said MCMC has been tasked to review actions that can be taken against eCommerce platforms found to be selling prohibited items such as narcotics and dangerous weapons. He shared that the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living have periodically issue instructions to remove ads for prohibited products.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim recently said that the government finds the influence of social media and online games leads to worrying behaviours. He said some measures proposed to address increase violence at national schools include banning the use of smartphones for those under 16 years old.

The Prime Minister also added that there was a discussion for the Home Ministry and the police to increase security monitoring at schools nationwide.

In Australia, social media platforms are required to take reasonable steps to prevent its citizens below 16 years old from creating or keeping an account. The age restriction aims to protect young Australians from pressures and risks that users can be exposed to while logged in to social media accounts. The implementation will be enforced starting 10th December 2025.

Social Media platforms that fail to comply with the age restriction can face court-imposed fines of up 150,000 penalty units for corporations which is equivalent to AUD 49.5 million (about RM135.2 million).

[ SOURCE , IMAGE SOURCE ]