PETALING JAYA: Despite more children using the Internet, the use of parental controls has gone down, a survey by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has found.
The Internet User Survey by MCMC discovered that the number of children aged five to 17 who use the Internet has grown by 155% from 2016, but parents’ awareness of parental controls has decreased from 62.4% in 2018 to 53.4% in 2020.
Only 34.4% of parents use parental controls to safeguard their children on the Internet in 2020.
Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri said while the government is in full support of children’s access to digital environment and their ability to express their views and opinions in line with rights provided under the laws and regulations of Malaysia, there is a need to make cyberspace safer for them.
“The Internet and social media provides learning and developmental resources for young people to communicate and interact with a global community on any number of issues.
“However, we should never overlook the fact that along with this potential, the Internet also exposes our children to a wide range of threats such as cyberbullying, cybergrooming, identity theft, pornography and other elements of violence,” she told The Star.Nancy also shared findings from another survey by the Malaysian government in partnership with Ecpat International, Interpol and Unicef, which discovered that children were being subjected to various forms of online sexual abuse and exploitation, and other unwanted experiences online.
The study, which polled 995 children nationwide, found that 94% of 12 to 17-year-olds in Malaysia are Internet users.
A total 24% of children surveyed had unexpectedly come across sexual content online through advertisements, social media feeds, search engines and messaging apps.
Meanwhile, 4% said they had been subjected to a clear form of online sexual exploitation and abuse, including having been blackmailed to engage in sexual activities, having had their sexual images shared without permission, or having been coerced to engage in sexual activities through promises of money or gifts.
Nancy said the government is in the process of formulating a new National Child Policy and its Action Plan to address all the existing gaps and capture the government’s commitment to implement the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
“The new National Child Policy and Plan of Action shall address gaps in support systems that might result in harm to children, especially with respect to juvenile justice, bullying, mental health, child exploitation, child marriage, climate change, including child online protection.
“While the new National Child Policy is expected to align with recent law reforms pertaining to children, it is also expected to coordinate with other domestic government policies in the context of child online protection,” she said.
She added that many initiatives had been taken by the ministry over the years with the view of keeping children safe online and offline.
This includes establishing the Integrated Action Committee on the Management of Children’s Issues Online to address cyberbullying and sexual crimes involving children on social media, carrying out the Combat Online Sexual Crimes Against Children Campaign, and forming the Child Protection Team (PPKK) in every district under the National Council for Children.
Members of the PPKK include medical and police officers, while there are currently 140 PPKKs across the country.
“Malaysia has also taken bold steps to strengthen the child protection systems through the introduction of the Sexual Offences against Children Act 2017 together with the amendment of Child Act 2001, among others, address online child sexual exploitation such as pornography, sexual grooming and sexual assault.
“Malaysia has also established Courts for Sexual Crimes against Children, held capacity building for Sessions Court judges, and drawn out an inter-agency guideline as initiatives in handling cases of sexual offences against children,” she said.
Besides implementing policies, Nancy said active enforcement has also been ongoing to ensure a safer cyberspace for children.
Actions taken by the MCMC include restricting websites containing child pornography, of which between 2015 and July 2019, a total of 405 websites were blocked.
MCMC has also provided digital forensic analysis assistance involving child sexual abuse cases to the police since 2017.
The Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 was also amended to allow Internet Service Providers to store data, especially to assist in cases of Empowerment of Criminal Enforcement Against Children on Social Media.
Despite the actions by the government to protect children, Nancy said the government would not be able to tackle the issue without the support of the community.
“Not only am I the Minister, but as a mother and a grandmother, I am distraught if there is an incident where children are exposed to the dangers of pornography.
“Family members, school teachers, parties that work closely with children play a crucial part in monitoring the children when using gadgets.
“Should the public find any suspicious elements, report to the respective authorities, such as police and MCMC, to tackle online pornography,” she said.
