SHAH ALAM, Jan 13 — The government aims to secure cooperation from all social media platforms by mid‑2026 to restrict access for users under the age of 16, Communications Minister Datuk Fahmi Fadzil said today.

He said discussions are ongoing between the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and social media companies to implement age‑appropriate safeguards.

“Many may be asking about children using social media. God willing, by mid‑year we will obtain cooperation from all social media platforms to restrict social media usage to those aged 16 and above,” he said in his speech at the National Information Dissemination Centre (Nadi) Advisory Panel chairman letter presentation ceremony here.

Fahmi stressed that any platform failing to comply with Malaysia’s Online Safety Act would face regulatory action under the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.

“At present, in recent days and moving forward, discussions are being held between MCMC and social media platforms to ensure they comply with the Online Safety Act. Whatever actions we can take, including under the Communications and Multimedia Act, will be taken. If it violates Malaysian law, we can take action,” he said.

The minister also highlighted recent action taken against AI tools capable of producing harmful content, including X’s Grok AI, which was temporarily blocked after regulators raised concerns over indecent and potentially harmful deepfakes.

“We have blocked the AI feature on platform X because it can generate highly indecent and harmful deepfakes,” he said.

The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) is developing 10 subsidiary legislations under the Online Safety Act 2025 (Act 866), focusing on issues related to online child protection, including ensuring that content is appropriate for child users based on their age.

Under the subsidiary regulations, service providers will be responsible for ensuring their platforms are not accessible to users under the age of 16.

Service providers will also be required to ensure that content shown to users under the age of 18 is suitable for their age group.