KUALA LUMPUR, June 2 — Children are now increasingly exposed to the risk of prolonged cybertrauma following the increase in cases of online sexual exploitation involving threats, emotional manipulation and the repeated dissemination of abusive material.
This situation, if it occurs, will certainly have a profound impact on the mental and psychological well-being of the victims.
In this regard, the enforcement of age verification requirement for social media account registration through the implementation of the Child Protection Code (CPC) and the Risk Mitigation Code (RMC) under the Online Safety Act 2025 (ONSA) which began yesterday, is seen as very timely to protect those under the age of 16.
For Protect and Save the Children executive director Amnani Abdul Kadir, the government’s move is very timely because cybercrime trends such as online grooming, sextortion and live streaming of child sexual abuse are increasingly worrying.
Speaking to Bernama, she said this was due to the cunning tactics of perpetrators who often use fake identities on social media platforms and video games to deceive victims.
Amnani said predators were found to often study the behaviour, interests and emotional weaknesses of the victim before initiating fishing tactics through seemingly harmless interactions such as praise, emotional support or friendship.
She shared that in February, the organisation handled the case of a child who was exploited by her own guardian, who manipulated and forced the victim to produce sexual content for the purpose of live streaming.
“Many children are unaware that they are being exploited because this psychological manipulation process occurs slowly.
“The emotional impact on victims can be very severe especially when the abusive material is recorded and repeatedly shared online, thus causing lasting trauma to them,” she said.
She said the seizure of almost 500,000 files of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) through Ops Cyber Guardian in April reflected the increasingly critical level of cyber exploitation of children in Malaysia.
She explained that the number of seizures was likely only a small part of the total actual cases given that global data from the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) also recorded more than 312,000 CSAM reports taken action last year with an average of the material found online every 101 seconds.
Touching on the minimum age limit of 16 years for opening a social media account set by the government, Amnani said the regulation must involve efforts to empower children, parents and educators to identify risks and act safely in the digital space.
She said the implementation of a stronger age verification system in addition to the government’s involvement in tightening the law, increasing the accountability of technology companies through the “safety by design” approach and expanding cyber security education in schools should be implemented.
Meanwhile, Children’s Protection Society Malaysia vice chairman Nawiza Ariff said the restriction of social media accounts for users under the age of 16 is a positive initial step, but not a standalone solution as age restrictions alone can be easily bypassed by children who are highly adaptive to technology.
She stressed that the measure must be accompanied by stronger parental empowerment, shifting from merely monitoring screen time to understanding digital behaviour, online risks, privacy settings, communication features in gaming platforms, as well as recognising children’s emotional warning signs.
According to her, safeguarding children online requires a holistic approach involving robust legislation by the government, stronger accountability from technology companies through safety by design principles, integration of cyber safety education in schools and sustained national awareness campaigns.
“Most importantly, we must create a safe environment for children to speak up without fear, shame or punishment. Protecting children online is no longer optional, it is a shared national responsibility,” she said.
Starting yesterday, Malaysia enforced age verification requirements for registration and opening of social media accounts to ensure that individuals under the age of 16 are no longer allowed to open social media accounts.
Under the new regulations, users who want to register an account are required to submit an official government-issued identification document such as MyKad, passport or MyDigital ID as age verification.
The age verification requirement applies to licensed social media services including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube.
