PETALING JAYA: The Malaysia Cyber Consumer Association has warned parents to beware as social media, online games and unfiltered internet searches are exposing children aged between nine and 12 to explicit material, including pornography.

“The prime reasons for such exposure are unsupervised access to devices, peer-shared links and intrusive pop-up advertisements,” said its executive council for education member Maswanhizzly Masri.

His warning comes on the heels of Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil saying that Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 would be amended to allow two forms of offences – paedophilia and the sale of online pornography – to be arrestable offences.

Fahmi also said platforms such as Facebook, TikTok, Instagram and X are in the community standard, which mandates that only those aged 13 and above can open an account on social media platforms.

Maswanhizzly said such platforms, including YouTube, are high-risk due to the ability of hackers to bypass their filters.

He said online gaming platforms with chat functions, such as Roblox and Discord, also pose a threat, enabling players to share explicit links.

Messaging apps such as WhatsApp and Telegram further compound the issue through private or group chats.

“Unfiltered search engines worsen the problem when parental controls or “Safe Search” features are not enabled,” he said.

He added that a National Population and Family Development Board Malaysia study showed that 78.3% of parents allowed their children to have mobile phones, citing educational and current needs as driving factors.

Maswanhizzly said tools such as Google Family Link for Android and Apple Screen Time for iOS, offer basic features like content filtering and screen time limits.

For more comprehensive monitoring, options like Qustodio, Norton Family and Kaspersky Safe Kids provide social media tracking, detailed activity reports and real-time alerts for “risky behaviour”.

Executive director Benny Kong of Focus on the Family, which is a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to helping families thrive, said parents and educators should watch for signs like increased device use without supervision.

“Children’s withdrawal from family, anxiety about body image or pushing sexual boundaries are indications of exposure to inappropriate content and should be investigated further.

“Early exposure to pornography can harm emotional, mental and social development as it can cause emotional distress, foster negative body image and normalise objectification.”

Kong said children may imitate harmful behaviour seen online, leading to child-on-child abuse.

This is especially concerning as explicit content is increasingly accessible and getting more violent.

“Parents can provide age-appropriate sex education to prevent addiction to explicit content, and without shaming their children by setting up device filters and teaching self-regulation.

“Building strong relationships can address unusual behaviour, while seeking professional help is vital if they are unable to deal with the matter.

“Parents should also encourage open communication, set clear boundaries and create screen-free zones at home,” he said.

CEO Murugason Thangaratnam of Novem CS, which specialises in solving cyber security challenges, said Malaysia recently passed the Online Safety Bill 2024, which is a step toward enhancing online safety in Malaysia.

The Bill, enacted under the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, regulates harmful content and holds service providers, including Application Service Providers and Content Application Service Providers operating in Malaysia, responsible for filtering out explicit material.

Its First Schedule categorises harmful content such as child sexual abuse material, obscene content and indecent material, with specific protection for children.

Sources : https://thesun.my/malaysia-news/parents-warned-of-preteen-exposure-to-pornography-CA13460301