Fahmi urges influencers to spread positive values, not chase sensations
KOTA KINABALU: Communications Minister Datuk Fahmi Fadzil has urged influencers to shoulder greater responsibility by spreading honest, ethical content with positive messages.
He emphasised that influencers must carefully produce content to maintain young viewers’ confidence in the information presented.
“I could see a trend among young people, that they like to watch TikTok but don’t trust it too much,” Fahmi said during the MADANI Moyog Youth Training Workshop at the National Information Dissemination Centre in Kampung Inobong.
“They rarely watch TV but trust it more. This is a rather unique phenomenon, but I hope that if we can work together to produce content that is not only ethical but has a good message.”
Fahmi specifically called on influencers and aspiring content creators to focus on producing good content.
He also announced the government’s plan to tighten social media access for children under 16 following police findings about rising digital crimes.
“We see the need for us to start putting up ‘fences’ to prevent children under 16 from using social media,” Fahmi stated.
“Criminals have migrated en masse to these platforms.”
He referenced Operation Pedophile, where police arrested 31 men aged 12 to 71 for possessing over 800,000 child sexual abuse files.
Fahmi also expressed concern about the ‘doomscrolling’ phenomenon, warning it could cause addiction and affect teenagers’ moral development and daily focus.
National Film Development Corporation Malaysia chief executive officer Datuk Azmir Saifuddin Mutalib and Pakatan Harapan candidate for Moyog constituency Remysta Jimmy Taylor also attended the event.
