Malaysia enforces ban on social media accounts for children younger than 16

Amid calls for Canada to adopt a social media ban for youth, some critics warn it may actually do more harm than good. Kamil Karamali explains.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Malaysia on Monday began enforcing rules barring millions of children younger than 16 from having social media accounts, joining a global effort to tighten online safety protections for young users.

The rules require social media platforms with at least 8 million users including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, to implement age-verification systems and block users under 16 from creating accounts.

Malaysia’s Communications and Multimedia Commission said Monday that age verification for existing users will be rolled out progressively over the next six months.

Users identified as under 16 will have a month to download or transfer their data, including photos and videos, before any restrictions, suspensions, or other actions are applied, it said in a statement.

Companies that fail to comply could face penalties of up to 10 million ringgit (US$2.5 million). But parents whose children manage to bypass the law will not be penalized.

The government said the measures are aimed at protecting children from harmful content, cyberbullying and platform features designed to encourage excessive use.

Other countries including Australia,Brazil and Indonesia have introduced or announced age-based restrictions or requirements for children’s access to social media. Countries including Britain, France, Spain, Denmark, Thailand and South Korea are also studying or developing similar approaches.

The regulator said the rules are not intended to prevent children from accessing digital technology.

“These measures help strengthen the protection of children in the online environment, while providing added reassurance to parents in navigating increasingly complex digital risks,” it has said.

Platforms are required to improve user safety, discourage excessive use and take action against underage accounts and harmful content.

Technology companies have yet to detail how they will comply with Malaysia’s new requirements.

Clara Koh, Meta’s director of public policy for Southeast Asia, had cautioned in April that Malaysia’s blanket under-16 ban could backfire by driving teenagers away from protected apps and into unregulated corners of the internet.

She said Meta has launched “teen accounts” for those under 18 that limits contact, screen time and exposure to inappropriate content.

Malaysia’s curbs come as governments face growing pressure to address concerns about social media’s impact on children’s mental health and online safety.

In March, a U.S. jury ordered Meta and YouTube to pay millions of dollars in damages in a case alleging that platform design features contributed to harm suffered by a young user.

How two Malaysian families see the changes

Kuala Lumpur parents Saravanan Ganasan and Jayaradha Veerasamy — whose children are 12 and 15 — approve of the changes. They already banned their kids from using social media, believing minors lack the psychological capacity to cope with it.

The couple ban unsupervised scrolling on TikTok and Instagram. Devices are kept out of bedrooms, screen time is limited to common areas, and their son is not allowed to lock his phone with a password.

“Exposure is what we fear,” Saravanan said. “The wrong kind of exposure will do damage to the mind.”

Aadhavan Saravanan, 15, said he believes he would be addicted to social media if allowed full freedom. “Social media is like, a luxury and it’s not a necessity,” he said

The couple said the restrictions have forced their children to develop offline life skills. Instead of scrolling, Aadhavan reads books in a backyard mango tree and repairs broken household appliances, while their daughter cooks and does crafts.

“A lot of parents are very scared that children get bored,” the kids’ mother, Jayaradha, said. “But boredom is actually very good because they start thinking out of the box.”

But Shaun Hew, who lives in the Kuala Lumpur suburb of Cheras, feels the new restrictions go too far.

Hew believes social media offers an outlet for his kids to spend time productively, as long as there is proper adult oversight. His 11-year-old son uses platforms to learn cooking and his daughter, 14, uses YouTube for exam revision.

He worries a sudden cutoff could cause teenagers to rebel and find unregulated ways to bypass internet blocks.

Some voice concerns over privacy and safety

Some critics contend that Malaysia’s move could increase the risks of data privacy breaches and expand state surveillance.

“It is very much following the trend but in a way that is raising alarms due to requiring a government ID for age verification,” said Benjamin Loh, social science lecturer at Monash University in Malaysia.

Loh also said experiences elsewhere suggest age-based restrictions have yet to prove consistently effective. Without penalties on parents, families can easily bypass the law by creating accounts for their children, he said.

“This is a major gap that unless regulators are willing to fix, will result in the law having little effect in stopping children from using social media,” he added.

Eileen Ng, The Associated Press