Jakarta, INTI - The Malaysian government has begun regulating social media use among young users under the age of 16. These restrictions will take effect on June 1, 2026.
Following other countries that have restricted social media use for children and young teenagers, Malaysia is now taking a more serious approach to regulating social media use to protect the young generation from harmful content.
As reported by Reuters on May 22, the new regulations regarding social media restrictions will target users under the age of 16, including account and age registration restrictions for minors.
The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission also stated that these new regulations include tightening the management and regulation of content on social media platforms. These protective measures target age-appropriate protections and restrictions on high-risk features.
Social media platforms will be required to have effective reporting systems, ad verification, and labels for manipulated or fabricated content. The platform companies will be given time to implement these new policies.
Several Countries also have and will Implement Similar Regulation
Besides Malaysia, several countries have implemented similar restrictions to protect children from uncontrolled social media content. Indonesia previously implemented this through the PP Tunas regulations.
With PP Tunas, platforms like YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Roblox restrict the accounts of children and adolescents under the age of 16. This means that these social media platforms can only be accessed by adult users.
Meanwhile, the Norwegian government is proposing social media restrictions for children and teenagers under 16. However, this regulation is still under development and has not yet been fully implemented.
Conclusion
Malaysia will begin enforcing social media restrictions for users under the age of 16 starting June 1, 2026, in an effort to protect children and adolescents from harmful content. The new regulations include account registration restrictions, ad verification system, and labeling of fabricated content. This move follows some other countries that have implemented similar policies, including Indonesia.
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