Malaysian Communications Minister Fahmi Fadil said yesterday, Sunday, that his country will enhance the safety of minors on the Internet through new verification rules, according to Bloomberg.

He added: “We hope that by next year, social media platforms will adhere to the government’s decision.”

The minister explained that Malaysia will follow Australia’s experience in implementing a ban on the use of social media for children under 16 years of age, which will begin on December 10.

In October, Malaysia decided to raise the minimum age for social media users from 13 to 16 years.

Fahmy stressed that this step is in line with the Internet Safety Law, which will come into effect next January 1.

It should be noted that Australia recently adopted a law prohibiting the use of social media networks by children under the age of 16, and the Australian Prime Minister indicated that the authorities will ask technology companies and social media site administrations to take reasonable steps to prevent users under the aforementioned age from creating accounts and pages.

Source: DPA