The Communications Ministry has announced plans to monitor and potentially take additional measures if social media platforms fail to enforce their own age restrictions for users.
This follows the introduction of social media platform licensing, set to take effect on 1 January 2025.
According to Bernama, Minister Fahmi Fadzil highlighted that most social media platforms currently set a minimum user age of 13 years. “We want to see how they enforce this age restriction based on the standards they have already established.”
“If they fail or the enforcement is unsatisfactory, we will consider additional measures,” he stated.
Fahmi explained that the ministry leaves the enforcement of age restrictions to the social media platforms themselves to ensure policy stability, as the government does not want to curb freedom of expression.
He also mentioned that social media and internet messaging platforms with at least eight million users are now in the final stages of registering for the Class Licence for Applications Services Provision under the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.
The government acknowledges the benefits that many users gain from social media platforms, including for business purposes, and has no intention of shutting down any of these platforms.
However, Fahmi emphasised that the government does not want these platforms to be misused by criminals.