PETALING JAYA: The implementation of a minimum age requirement of 16 for social media use, aimed at protecting children and adolescents from exploitation and exposure to inappropriate online content, is expected to be enforced as early as July.
Deputy communications minister Teo Nie Ching said the initiative was currently in the regulatory sandbox phase, allowing the government to test and refine the most effective implementation methods before full enforcement.
“We have begun discussions with platform providers pursuant to the Online Safety Act. We are now in the regulatory sandbox stage to identify the best, most effective and safest way to conduct age verification. At present, we are still in the discussion and planning phase with the platform providers.
“This (July implementation) is our target for the year. As announced by communications minister Fahmi Fadzil, we expect it to be implemented in the second half of the year,” she said when met after the handing over ceremony for early schooling assistance at SK Putra Utama in Kulai here today, Bernama reported.
The government is reportedly targeting the implementation of digital user identity verification on all social media platforms by the end of the second quarter of 2026, to enforce the minimum age requirement for account registration.
Asked about the cyberbullying involving national badminton player Toh Ee Wei, Teo said she had yet to receive confirmation from the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission on whether any complaints had been lodged.
Last week, FMT published an opinion piece reporting a social media wave criticising the performance of the nation’s badminton athletes, including Ee Wei and her doubles partner Chen Tang Jie.
