Harris Zainul was quoted by the South China Morning Post, 24 November 2025
With mandatory ID verification set for 2026, Malaysia debates: should parents or the state decide how children access the internet?
by Iman Muttaqin Yusof
Malaysia’s plan to bar children aged 16 and under from having social media accounts from next year has sparked a public backlash, as experts warn that enforcement gaps, privacy risks and vague guidelines could blunt the policy’s impact.
Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil said on Sunday that social media platforms would be required to implement electronic know-your-customer (eKYC) identity checks in 2026 under the Online Safety Act, which comes into force on January 1.
Users will have to verify their age using government-issued identity documents such as the MyKad identity card, passports or the national digital ID in a move away from the self-declared age checks of today.
“We expect all platform providers to be ready to implement eKYC by next year,” Fahmi was quoted as saying by local daily The Star, adding that the goal was to ensure minors “are prohibited from having social media accounts” and to strengthen safeguards against harmful content and online scams.
The push follows a string of troubling incidents including viral bullying videos, secondary school students sharing explicit clips and scam attempts that targeted teenagers.
Teachers have also reported students accessing violent or self-harm content during school hours.
Despite this backdrop, the announcement set off a backlash across Malaysian social media, where many questioned both the feasibility and the wisdom of the plan.
Users questioned how the government would enforce the measure and warned that, absent intrusive surveillance, determined teenagers would quickly pivot to virtual private networks and foreign-registered accounts that were harder to police.
“Children of the future should not be restricted from technology and current culture, or else they will be left out,” one user wrote.
Another argued: “it’s better to let parents handle this than let the government decide”.
‘Anonymity can be crucial’
Policy analysts say Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s administration will need to keep the rules flexible if it hopes to keep pace with rapidly evolving online risks.
“Obviously, the ban alone will not be sufficient,” said Adib Zalkapli, managing director at consultancy Viewfinder Global.
“Enforcement is probably more important to ensure that any emerging loopholes are addressed.”
He added that there was “nothing unusual” about deploying eKYC in the policy mix, noting that such checks were already ubiquitous in Malaysia’s financial services and telecommunications sectors.
Others were more sceptical about making ID-based checks the linchpin of the entire strategy.
“We can protect our children online through the social-media ban without specifying that it has to be implemented with eKYC specifically,” said Harris Zainul, director of research at the Institute of Strategic and International Studies Malaysia.
“This will be crucial towards maintaining the balance between protecting children and privacy online. We shouldn’t be too quick to forget that anonymity can be crucial for whistle-blowers and human-rights defenders.”
Other jurisdictions like Britain and Australia “don’t necessarily specify for age to be determined solely through government-issued ID,” he said – instead leaning on a mix of tools including age-estimation technology, risk-based assessments and platform-level design changes.
Australia is set to enforce one of the world’s toughest social-media regimes from December 10, banning children aged 16 and younger from having accounts. Malaysia has said it will study Canberra’s model as it rolls out its own restrictions.
Anwar told parliament last month that Putrajaya was also weighing curbs on smartphone use by minors, casting the debate as part of a much broader rethink of how the state should intervene in children’s digital lives.
Neighbouring Indonesia has signalled plans to tighten youth-protection laws as well, citing the need to shield children from “physical, mental or moral perils” associated with always-on connectivity.
Tech companies, meanwhile, have warned that outright bans could backfire by pushing youths to less regulated corners of the internet.
Meta, which is locked in a separate dispute with Malaysia over its new social media licensing rules, told This Week in Asia in October that it disagreed with Kuala Lumpur’s approach and wanted further talks on youth safety.
The owner of Facebook, Instagram and Threads said it had already expanded its internal safeguards for teens – ranging from default privacy settings to content restrictions – even before Malaysia rolled out its licence requirements.
You’re going to drive them to less safe spaces
Meta’s Rafael Frankel on social media bans for kids
“When we talk about online youth regulation, you’ve got to talk about the whole online environment. If you just focus on social media and you do social media bans … you’re going to drive them to less safe spaces,” said Rafael Frankel, Meta’s director of public policy for Southeast Asia. “That’s the practical result.”
Mental-health professionals say the lack of detail surrounding Malaysia’s plan makes it difficult to judge whether it will ultimately protect children or deepen existing inequalities in access and literacy.
“At this stage the proposal is still broad, so it’s difficult to evaluate its practicality or likely impact,” said Chua Sook Ning, a clinical psychologist and founder of the mental-health group Relate Malaysia.
Chua said that reducing exposure to harmful content was “sensible” in principle, but warned that a blanket ban without clear enforcement mechanisms, exemptions or support for parents could “push usage underground or widen inequalities” between families that can navigate the rules and those that cannot.
This article was first appeared on the South China Morning Post, 24 November 2025
