KUALA LUMPUR, April 13 — Malaysia’s move to restrict social media access for those under the age of 16 reflects a broader global shift towards holding platforms accountable for their system design, rather than relying solely on users to manage online risks.
Cybersecurity expert M. Selvakumar of Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) said that by the time educational campaigns address emerging harms such as cyberbullying or sophisticated grooming, platform algorithms may have already amplified these dangers at scale.
“Relying on user awareness merely manages the fallout rather than preventing the harm from occurring in the first place,” he said.
He noted that the failure of reactive education has driven a global policy reset, shifting the burden of responsibility from users directly to technology companies.
“Instead of teaching children how to survive a hostile digital environment, governments are finally regulating the environment itself through mandatory ‘safety by design’,” Selvakumar said.
He pointed to Australia as the turning point, after it passed legislation to introduce a nationwide under-16 social media rule effective December 2025.
Under the Australian “delay, not ban” model, accounts are placed in quarantine until users reach the age threshold, rather than being deleted entirely.
Selvakumar said Australia’s move provides a workable template that other nations, including Malaysia, could quickly adopt.
“Once one major democracy took the plunge and absorbed the initial pushback from tech lobbyists, it provided political cover for other nations to follow suit without looking like global outliers,” he said.
He added that governments have lost patience with voluntary action by platforms, concluding that companies whose business models rely on harvesting attention would never voluntarily restrict their user base without the threat of massive financial penalties.
Meanwhile, Protect and Save the Children executive director Amnani A. Kadir said governments are acting in quick succession because the risks to minors are now widely recognised as a global public health problem.
“We are seeing rising anxiety, depression, bullying and online exploitation across borders. There is a growing awareness that both platforms and parents need stronger support and accountability,” she said.
Amnani stressed that policies must be grounded in the principle of acting in the “best interests of the child,” prioritising safety and development over convenience or profit.
She argued that children cannot be expected to manage complex digital environments designed specifically to influence human behaviour.
“Platforms have not done enough to prevent harm. In fact, they have been hiding data on harm to children for years.
“Giving children unrestricted access without supervision is like letting them drive without training,” she said.
Amnani added that Malaysia’s move was part of a wider child-protection effort, noting that around one in three youths show signs of addictive social media use.
She said the intervention has become necessary as mental health issues and online exploitation continue to rise alongside the digital landscape’s expansion.
The government’s plan to enforce a minimum age of 16 for social media use is set to take effect in the second half of this year.
