ThaiHealth warned that beyond developmental concerns, children and adolescents face a range of online threats, including cyberbullying, sexual exploitation, online gambling and exposure to advertisements promoting harmful behaviours such as e-cigarette use.
Under the new rules, social media platforms are required to implement age-verification systems and prevent users under 16 from creating accounts. The regulations apply to platforms with at least eight million users in Malaysia, including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube.
With the move, Indonesia became the first country in Southeast Asia to ban children from having accounts on YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, Bigo Live and Roblox.