Online dangers hit Malaysia’s children hardest, experts warn

Child sexual abuse material has become the number one threat, overtaking cyberbullying.

Protect and Save the Children founder Madeleine Yong said one of the biggest dangers children face online today is the sharing of sexual content. (Envato Elements pic)

PETALING JAYA:

 As Malaysians spend more of their lives online, experts warn online dangers disproportionately affect those who are already vulnerable, particularly children.

Shamir Rajadurai, crime prevention specialist at Prevent Crime Now and AntiBuli.My, said those most exposed include children aged roughly nine to 15 years old, “old enough to roam online but too young to navigate complex risks”.

“Girls and young women, refugee, migrant and B40 children, and children with disabilities are also more at risk,” he told FMT.

Coming into force today, the Online Safety Act requires platforms to embed child safety into platform design, rather than relying on parental supervision and post-harm assistance.

These measures include stricter default privacy and safety settings for child users; age-appropriate search, recommendation and content discovery systems; and restrictions on high-risk interactions between adults and children.

The law follows a worrying uptick in online harm, which the Malaysia Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) says largely comprises fraud and scams, cyberbullying and online harassment and child sexual abuse material (CSAM).

Between January and November 2025, Malaysians were scammed of roughly RM2.7 billion. Meanwhile, police and MCMC seized almost 900,000 CSAM files during Ops Pedo 2.0.

Madeleine Yong, founder of NGO Protect and Save the Children, stressed that one of the biggest dangers children face online today is the sharing of sexual content.

“Unicef Malaysia has warned that CSAM is now the number one online threat to children, overtaking cyberbullying,” she said.

Based on data from The Internet Watch Foundation, Malaysia recorded 12,656 reports of CSAM from January to June 2025 – making up 78% of the total 16,238 reports recorded in 2024.

“Many of these cases involve young children as young as seven years old,” paediatrician Sasha Mohan told FMT.

Sasha said studies show one in four Malaysian children have been exposed to sexual or disturbing content online, often without actively looking for it.

“This means that roughly 100,000 Malaysian children may experience online sexual exploitation each year,” she said, adding this figure is likely under-reported due to many incidents never being disclosed or recognised by adults.

Shamir said because of the policies being put in place, such as the online safety and anti-bullying laws, there is now a clear legal basis for targeting harmful content and compelling platforms to act.

He said the laws have helped grow public awareness about online safety, though some enforcement gaps remain and can be improved.

“Many harmful posts are reported but action is not taken as fast. Sometimes definitions can be broad or vague, so action is not taken,” he said.

Previously, MCMC shared that 92% or 638,957 harmful posts were taken down. While these numbers seem high, that still leaves 8% or more than 58,000 harmful posts related to fraud, bullying and CSAM online. - FMT