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Malaysia began enforcing a rule on June 1 that bans children under 16 from holding social media (SNS) accounts. The move aligns Malaysia with other countries seeking to strengthen online safety for young users.
According to the AP, the rule requires social media operators to implement age‑verification systems and to block users under 16. It applies to platforms with more than 8 million users, including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube.
Companies that fail to comply could face fines of up to 10 million ringgit (approximately 3.79 billion KRW, 2.84 million USD). Parents will not be penalized if their child circumvents the rules and creates an account.
The Malaysian government said the measure is intended to protect children from harmful content, cyberbullying and platform features that encourage excessive use. Australia, Brazil and Indonesia have already implemented or announced similar age‑based limits, and the UK, France, Spain, Denmark, Thailand and South Korea are considering comparable measures.
The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) said the regulation is not meant to block children’s access to the internet or digital technologies. Rather, it aims to require operators to address online risks and to deploy age‑appropriate safeguards.
In a statement last month, the MCMC said the measure will strengthen child protection online and reassure parents amid increasingly complex digital risks. It said platforms must design safety‑first features, including curbing manipulative designs that encourage compulsive use, and must tackle underage accounts and harmful content. The MCMC also said it will provide a grace period for companies to build age‑verification systems.
While companies have yet to outline detailed implementation plans, Meta — the main company affected by the rule — has expressed skepticism. In April, Clara Ko, Meta’s head of public policy for Southeast Asia, warned that a blanket ban on under‑16s could backfire by pushing teens away from apps with protections and into unregulated corners of the internet. She said Meta has introduced \”youth accounts\” for those under 18 that limit contacts, screen time and exposure to inappropriate content.
Malaysia’s regulation comes as governments face mounting pressure over concerns about social media’s effects on children’s mental health and safety online. In March, a U.S. jury ordered Meta and YouTube to pay millions of dollars (tens of billions of KRW) in a lawsuit that found platform design features contributed to harm suffered by a minor user.
Despite support from many parents, the measure has raised privacy concerns. Benjamin Lo, a lecturer at Monash University Malaysia, said the policy follows a broader trend but that requiring government‑issued ID for age verification raises serious concerns.
He noted there is still no clear evidence that age‑based restrictions consistently work. Because the regulation does not penalize parents, families can still create accounts in a child’s name at home. Unless regulators address that loophole, he warned, the law is unlikely to significantly reduce children’s use of social media.
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