Public education biggest hurdle to promoting online safety, says MCMC officer

MCMC’s deputy managing director for development, Eneng Faridah Iskandar, speaks during a panel session at the Global Public Relations Conference and Festival Malaysia 2025 today.

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) says public education remains one of its biggest challenges in promoting digital ethics and online safety.

Eneng Faridah Iskandar, MCMC’s deputy managing director for development, said the commission’s role is not just to educate the public, but also to help them understand the impact of harmful content.

“The biggest challenge now is public education and how we get the public to understand messaging,” she said at a panel discussion at the Global Public Relations Conference and Festival Malaysia 2025 here today.

“Of course, we have initiatives like the Safe Internet Campaign, but what’s more important is the involvement of all sectors, especially the public. That, to me, is the most challenging part.”

The Safe Internet Campaign, launched in April, aims to teach children and youths safe and responsible internet use and is expected to reach over 10,000 schools by year-end.

Eneng, who was previously MCMC’s chief enforcement officer, noted that while regulatory intervention is important, it has its limits.

“Being at the forefront of regulatory intervention strategies is critical, but we must be realistic: to what extent can you police the internet? Anyone trying to do so is doomed to fail, to be honest,” she said.

She said the Online Safety Act, set to come into force by the end of this year, is an example of how regulations can play an important role in accountability.

The Act not only holds platform providers accountable, but also the users who create and produce content, she said.

“The Act aims to place greater accountability on tech providers or platform providers to ensure their platforms are safe and secure for all users.

“But the responsibility is not on the government alone. The ones responsible for the content are either the users themselves or the hosts that allow such content to exist,” she said.

The Online Safety Act seeks to regulate harmful content on digital platforms, with enforcement to be driven by a committee under law and institutional reform minister Azalina Othman Said.

FMT is a media partner for the Global Public Relations Conference and Festival Malaysia 2025, which ends today.