The Ministry of Communications (KKOM) is studying whether to ban the use of social media by children under 13. KKOM Minister Datuk Fahmi Fadzil said that a digital literacy module should be given to users over 13 years of age so that they understand the information obtained online.
As many are aware, today various social media services are ready to prevent those aged 13 from registering accounts. However, many still violate the terms and register social media accounts even though they are under 13 years of age.
Last March, Datuk Fahmi said that in-depth research needs to be done on the psychological effects and differences in access to information between children and adolescents. According to him, the government does not plan to ban the use of social media to users under the minimum age set by platform operators.
Australia has already banned the use of social media to users under 16 years of age. Meanwhile, the UK, Denmark, Greece, Italy, France and Spain became the first six European countries to test a roadmap for age verification applications before a site can be accessed.
This is to ensure not only that they will not access pornographic or gambling sites, but also to hopefully protect them from becoming victims of sexual harassment via social media sites.