Kuala Lumpur (VNA) – Malaysia will officially implement two new regulatory codes under the Online Safety Act (ONSA) from June 1, marking the country’s strongest measures to date aimed at controlling harmful content and enhancing child protection in the digital environment.
The two new sets of rules – the Child Protection Code (CPC) and the Risk Mitigation Code (RMC) – will require digital platforms to take more proactive steps to control harmful content and strengthen mechanisms to protect vulnerable users, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) said in an announcement on May 22.
According to the MCMC, the move is part of the Malaysian Government’s long-term strategy to build a safer digital environment for children and families amid rising online threats such as fraud, cyber harassment, violent content and misinformation.
One of the most notable provisions is the requirement for social media platforms to adopt a “safety-by-design” mechanism. Under the regulation, individuals under the age of 16 will be prohibited from registering for and owning social media accounts on platforms with more than 8 million users in Malaysia.
To verify users’ ages, the Malaysian Government requires official documents such as national identity cards, passports or other state-issued documents to be used in the account verification process. Deputy Communications Minister Teo Nie Ching said platforms will be given a “reasonable period of time” to implement verification for existing accounts before enforcement measures are applied. Accounts that fail to complete verification may be blocked.
In addition to child protection measures, the RMC also requires digital platforms to impose stricter controls on online content. New requirements include periodic risk assessments, upgrades to content management systems, improved reporting and feedback mechanisms, advertiser verification, and the labelling of edited or AI-generated content.
Malaysian officials said pressure to tighten regulations stems from a sharp increase in online fraud and cybercrime. In the first four months of this year alone, the country recorded more than 23,300 online fraud cases, with total losses reaching 680.3 million MYR (approximately 170 million USD)./.
