SHAH ALAM, Nov 9 – Restrictions on social media account ownership for individuals under the age of 16 must be supported by guidance and digital education within the family to help children understand the boundaries of technology use.
Senior Psychology Officer in the Human Resource Services Division at Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) Siti Fatimah Abdul Ghani, said parental monitoring is essential, as children may find it difficult to adhere to such regulations without supervision at home.
“In reality, what is most important here is supervision by the family and the parents themselves.
“Parental oversight from within the home is crucial, as it can be quite difficult to ensure that children strictly adhere to such regulations on their own,” she stated during the Bicara Semasa programme, produced by Media Selangor, recently.
Siti Fatimah also raised the possibility of underage users misrepresenting their age when registering for accounts, particularly if the registration process lacks sufficient rigour.
“The registration process may not be stringent enough, leading to instances of misrepresentation where children and underage teenagers end up holding accounts,” she noted.
Digital Literacy for Parents
Discussing protective measures, Siti Fatimah emphasised the importance of digital literacy among parents, ensuring they have the knowledge to restrict their children’s access to specific applications and content.
According to her, various technological tools exist that allow parents to curate the material their children can access.
“There are applications that can restrict usage to specific, permitted platforms, ensuring that the content and resources accessed are those approved, supervised, or selected by the parents themselves,” she said.
Siti Fatimah added that such technology can also manage the duration of mobile phone use and monitor the content children view.
However, she cautioned parents not to take it lightly when it comes to their children’s protection, safety, and mental well-being, even with digital control tools at their disposal.
Beyond monitoring devices, Siti Fatimah stressed the importance of fostering open communication within the family, so that children understand what is and is not permissible when using technology.
Previously, the Child Protection Code (CPC), under the Online Safety Act 2025, came into effect on June 1.
This mandate requires licensed social media providers to implement age verification and sets the minimum age for account holders at 16.
For account holders under the existing arrangement, the age verification process will be implemented in stages over up to six months.
