MCMC says stronger parity between physical and digital laws is needed to combat rising online threats targeting children and vulnerable groups.
KUALA LUMPUR: Greater parity between laws governing the physical and digital worlds is essential to better tackle the rising wave of online threats, particularly those targeting children and other vulnerable groups, said Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) member Derek John Fernandez.
Delivering his keynote address at the International Regulatory Conference (IRC) 2026 today, he said while strict age restrictions are widely enforced for physical activities, such as viewing certain films, similar safeguards are yet to be consistently applied in the digital environment, allowing criminals to exploit weaker regulatory frameworks.
“If we look at the whole framework of laws in our society, we have always imposed age restrictions where we feel that there is value in ensuring that minors have not reached the level of maturity, even for criminal liability. But yet in the digital world, we have differences.
“It seems to be one set of laws in the real world, the physical world, but another set of laws in the digital world. This causes a great shift that emboldens criminals to go into the digital world and to elevate criminal activity simply because they can remain anonymous, the laws are much more lax, and it’s easier to get away with it,” he said.
The event was officiated by Communication Minister Datuk Seri Fadhmi Fadzil.
Fernandez said Malaysia has responded by strengthening its regulatory framework through the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 and Online Safety Act 2025 (ONSA) and amendments to the Penal Code, including measures requiring platforms to verify users’ identities and ages to better protect minors online.
He said online safety has become one of the country’s most pressing regulatory priorities as rapid advances in artificial intelligence (AI), social media and digital technologies have created new opportunities for scams, fraud, cyberbullying, child exploitation and other online harms.
According to Fernandez, the MCMC receives two to three reports involving child sexual abuse material daily and executes approximately 1,700 takedowns of harmful online content every day.
While regulators and industry players may hold differing views on how digital platforms should be governed, he said, there should be no disagreement on the fundamental need to protect children.
He said the concept of child safety has evolved dramatically, with children now exposed to risks even within the safety of their own homes through smartphones, computers, and other connected devices.
Unlike the physical world, where parents can monitor their children’s whereabouts, the digital world operates without boundaries or time limits, exposing young users to risks around the clock, he added.
Meanwhile, Fernandez cautioned that personal data has become a valuable commodity in the digital economy, enabling criminals to weaponise information for scams, fraud, and child exploitation.
He said the challenge for regulators is to balance public interest with the commercial objectives of technology companies, many of which rely on extensive data collection as part of their business models.
Fernandez added that an increasing number of countries are moving towards introducing age-based restrictions on children’s access to social media as part of broader efforts to enhance online safety.
While acknowledging that age verification alone will not eliminate online harms, he said it should form part of a broader, multi-layered strategy combining legislation, technology, enforcement, and international cooperation.
The third edition of the IRC, themed ‘Shaping the Next Digital Era: Regulation, Resilience and Trust,’ reflects Malaysia’s shift towards implementing its own policy frameworks, including the ONSA 2025, which came into force on Jan 1 this year.
