Malaysia has implemented new restrictions preventing children under 16 from creating accounts on social media platforms, according to an announcement Monday from the country’s communications regulator. The policy represents part of broader efforts to shield young people from dangerous online material.
This Southeast Asian country becomes part of a growing international movement to control access to digital platforms, as worries increase about social media’s effects on young people’s wellbeing and security.
Starting Monday, major social media companies like Meta Platforms’ Facebook and Instagram, TikTok, and Alphabet’s YouTube must verify users’ ages using official government documentation, according to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission.
Platforms that don’t follow these new requirements could face penalties reaching 10 million ringgit ($2.5 million).
“The measure is not intended to prohibit child users from the internet or to deny them access to technology,” the commission stated, explaining that the goal is to increase accountability among social media companies, parents and guardians when it comes to safeguarding minors on the internet.
Social media companies have six months to implement age verification processes for users who already have accounts.
Malaysia has increased oversight of social media corporations following discoveries of significantly more harmful digital content in recent years, and is taking action against material designed to inflame racial or religious conflicts, or attack the monarchy.
