Kuala lumpur: Online Safety Committee (OSC) chairman Tan Sri Hasnah Mohammed Hashim has called on all adults entrusted with the care of children to take collective responsibility in ensuring children's online safety and well-being. She emphasized that the responsibility should not rest solely on parents but also extend to teachers, babysitters, relatives, including aunts and uncles, as well as the wider community.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, Hasnah highlighted the need for greater public awareness and collective responsibility in protecting children from online exploitation, abuse, harmful content, neglect, and other forms of mistreatment. She urged parents and legal guardians to play a more active role in monitoring their children's online activities, especially as children today are becoming digitally savvy at a younger age.
Hasnah warned that even seemingly harmless online content might pose dangers to children, including exposure to predators, scams, and inappropriate material disguised as child-friendly content. She expressed concern over parents oversharing photographs and videos of their children on social media, noting that many may not fully understand the long-term risks and consequences involved.
The OSC, acting as a neutral body under the Online Safety Act 2025 (ONSA), plans to recommend appropriate measures and guidelines to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to improve online safety and platform accountability. Hasnah mentioned that the committee would continue to study approaches adopted in other countries while ensuring that any recommendations made remain suitable for Malaysia's social and legal environment.
Efforts to raise awareness should move beyond conventional printed materials and focus more on visual and digital approaches, including podcasts and videos, to better reach parents and the wider public. Hasnah suggested that more podcasts about child awareness could help people understand the risks involved.
ONSA, which came into effect on January 1, 2026, aims to create a safer internet environment, especially for children and families, by establishing clear responsibilities for online platform providers to remove harmful content and detect, prevent, and respond more swiftly. Additionally, two new codes under ONSA, the Child Protection Code and Risk Mitigation Code, will take effect on June 1, requiring digital platforms to take stricter action against harmful content and better protect children online.