Closer scrutiny needed on pros, cons of banning under-16s from social media, says minister

KUCHING (April 1): Banning those aged under 16 years old from accessing social media has its pros and cons, said Minister of Education, Innovation and Talent Development Dato Sri Roland Sagah Wee Inn.

He said that there were several countries that already restricted the use of the Internet, especially on several apps.

“We can do that (restricting). It is a good thing, as we don’t want to see the young wasting their time looking at their phones.

“But there are pros and cons for this. We want our people to be knowledgeable—it’s not all nonsense on the Internet. There are good things too, provided they use it properly and to improve their knowledge,” he told a press conference here yesterday.

He also highlighted the challenges that may be faced should Malaysia decide to enforce the ban.

“The other thing is, there will be the question of monitoring—a 10-year-old kid can put their age as 20 years old… How would we verify that?

“It’s just like a thief—once a thief, always a thief. But reducing access to programmes that are not useful to them is a good thing,” he said.

Malaysia plans to prohibit those aged under 16 from creating social media accounts via the Online Safety Act to protect them from online harm and cyberbulling.

Platforms are expected to use electronic know-your-customer (eKYC) checks to verify the user’s age via the use of official Ids such as MyKad, passports and MyDigital ID – and this is expected to be implemented this year.