Social media age verification mechanisms to be finalised in Q2: Teo

 

The government expects the age verification mechanism for social media users to be finalised through subsidiary legislation under the Online Safety Act (ONSA) 2025 in the second quarter of this year, Deputy Communications Minister Teo Nie Ching said.

She said the mechanism is part of ongoing efforts to protect children and teenagers from harmful online content, in line with the enforcement of the Act since Jan 1.

According to Teo, the MCMC is assessing the implementation of age and identity verification mechanisms, taking into account the aspects of account security, personal data protection, privacy, and compatibility with the existing legal framework.

“MCMC is also conducting a Regulatory Sandbox process with social media platform providers to evaluate suitable technological approaches,” she said in reply to Senator Norhasmimi Abdul Ghani during Question Time in the Dewan Negara today.

Norhasmimi had wanted to know the status of the proposals to impose stricter restrictions on social media access for children under 16 to curb harmful elements affecting their mental health.

Teo said the testing includes age verification and entity validation mechanisms and the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to detect high-risk content.

“Following the assessment and the Regulatory Sandbox process, the obligation to ensure users aged 16 and below do not operate social media accounts will rest fully with platform providers under subsidiary legislation pursuant to ONSA.

“Non-compliance could result in financial penalties of up to RM10 million,” she said, adding that the move aims to ensure social media algorithms are age-appropriate and to prevent exposure to negative content such as cyberbullying and sexual harassment.

Meanwhile, in reply to a supplementary question from senator Tiew Way Keng, Teo revealed that between Jan 1, 2022, and Feb 15 this year, 1,578 requests were submitted to service providers for the removal of extremely offensive content involving children, with 96 percent taken down.

She said to strengthen digital safety, the MCMC has also launched a public consultation from Feb 12 to develop a Risk Reduction Code and a Child Protection Code, expected to be finalised after March 13.

“Our intention is to make compliance with these codes mandatory for platform providers so their algorithms are safer, and to establish faster and more effective complaint mechanisms,” she said.

- Bernama