PUTRAJAYA: The government plans to raise the minimum age for social media usage to 16 in an effort to address social issues among school students.
Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil stated the government is also exploring the necessity of requiring social media accounts to be registered using official government documents.
He said the proposed registration mechanism may be similar to the e-KYC process currently used in banking apps and e-wallets.
To assess the feasibility of this mechanism, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission will send a delegation to meet social media platform operators in Singapore next week.
Fahmi added that discussions will also be held with Bank Negara Malaysia and other parties experienced with the e-KYC system.
He emphasised that the decision to raise the age and explore registration is currently at the policy level.
Further updates will be provided after the minister receives the report from the discussions in Singapore.
Meanwhile, MCMC has been tasked with reviewing actions against e-commerce platforms found selling prohibited items like narcotics or dangerous weapons.
The Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Domestic Trade periodically issue instructions to remove advertisements for such prohibited products.
Fahmi urged MCMC to explore actions against e-commerce companies that fail to cooperate with government directives and laws.
He made these comments after being asked about efforts to stop online weapon purchases.
This follows police confirmation that weapons seized from a suspect in a fatal school stabbing were bought online. – Bernama
