CYBERJAYA, Nov 28 — Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has joined forces with six main Internet Service Providers (ISP) to introduce the Parental Control Initiatives in its effort to develop a safe online universe for youths.

Based on a 2016 ISP focus group study, 74 per cent of Malaysian parents think that there is a need for their children to be protected online, which shows a general concern for children’s safety on the internet.

MCMC Network Security and Enforcement Sector chief officer Zulkarnain Mohd Yasin said the initiatives would help empower parents to use the tools to manage several risks which entail the usage of internet.

“Although it may not be a single solution to keep your children safe online, the parental control tools would allow parents to provide a layer of security for their children,” he said.

Zulkarnain said the parental control tools, currently offered by Celcom Axiata Berhad, UMobile, Digi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd, Maxis Berhad, Telekom Malaysia (TM) and TIME dotCom, are value-added services which enable parents to filter, block, control or monitor their children’s online activities.

He added they could be of a significant help, especially since the number of internet penetration rates in Malaysia is high.

“More and more children are going on the internet. It is available through broadband, mobile cellular, fixed line and pay television.

“Based on 2014 MCMC Internet Users Survey, there are 20.1 million internet users in Malaysia and 59 per cent of it consists of people under the age of 30. When children use the internet, they are exposed to risks. These tools may help manage those risks.”

He added MCMC did not mandate the initiative to all ISPs as it may be burdensome to smaller ISPs which may not possess the resources to acquire the infrastructure needed.

“Commercial-wise, for now there is very little demand for parental control tools in Malaysia. Therefore MCMC did not want the smaller ISPs to incur a heavy cost. However, we hope this might prompt other ISPs to embark on their own initiatives of a similar nature.

“Bear in mind it is a challenging initiative for providers as they are tasked to put boundaries when people do not want to be restrained online,” he said.

Zulkarnain said MCMC has long advocated for safe use of the internet and has succeeded in implementing thousands of access restriction towards illegal content.

“From 2015 to October this year alone, we have restricted over 4,000 malicious sites based on their content, which include pornography and scams. This was possible due to complaints by the public as well as requests filed by our partners at the, Malaysian Royal Police Force, Ministry of Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism Malaysia, Ministry of Health Malaysia and many others.”

He, however, said the responsibility to curb internet risks should not be put only on the government shoulder alone and that everyone, especially parents, has a pivotal role to play particularly at the micro-level within each family unit.

Telcos and their parental control apps

Celcom

KidSafe™

  • Launched on August 31, 2016, the app has two versions; KidSafe™ Parents (to be installed on parent's device), and KidSafe™ Child (to be installed on child's device).
  • The app allows parents to filter malicious content, schedule remote device shutdown, locate and be aware of a child’s whereabouts, monitor a child’s mobile activities, manage and block harmful applications in a child’s smartphone and record a child's mobile activity in a scheduled report.

Mobile phone user guide

  • The app also contains a guide for responsible mobile phone usage, containing a series of do's and don'ts for parents and children.

U Mobile

Kidslox™

  • One of two apps introduced under U Mobile’s Childproof initiative aimed at raising awareness on parental control and it was launched on October 10, 2016.
  • The app features content blocking, screen management, camera blocking, and remote device management.

Kakatu™

  • Launched on October 10, 2016, it allows parents to track and manage their children’s location. Apart from that, it also features content filter, screen time and incoming calls blocking. The app also stores usage statistics.
  • Available in Bahasa Melayu, Bahasa Indonesia and English.

Mobile phone user guide

  • A responsible mobile phone user guide containing a series of dos and don’ts for parents and children to help better understand good mobile usage habits.
  • Includes a family contract where both parents and children can pledge their commitments to use their mobile phones responsibly.

DiGi

Digi Family Safety ™ Freemium

  • Launched on July 27, 2016, users from any telco providers can create a family account with up to two family members.
  • It allows users to track family members’ locations in real-time, create up to two safety areas to get geo-fencing alerts, view check-ins, panic alert button which will send alert to all family members.

Digi Family Safety ™ Premium

  • Users can create a family account with up to seven family members.
  • It allows users to track family members’ locations in real-time, create up to 20 safety areas to get geo-fencing alerts, view check-ins, panic alert button which will send alert to all family members, restrict calls to family members only, and wipe off the data from a device if lost or stolen.

MAXIS

MaxisONE Kid™

  • A postpaid plan bundled with a kid-friendly smartwatch where parents can stay connected with their young children through a downloadable application.
  • Launched in July 2016, it features real-time location reports and history of where your kids have been, unlimited calls to 10 numbers on any network, two-way calling with 0.3MP camera and built-in pedometer, as well as have four guardians who can monitor a child.

Kiddie Care™

  • A parental control app which enables parents to safely allow their children to stay online.
  • Rolled out in 2013, its features include blocking kids from accessing pre-defined (blacklist) websites or applications and control usage time that the child has over the smart device.

TIME

Parental Control Tool

  • The features are built in to the routers that are provided with every TIME Fibre Home Broadband subscription.
  • It enables parents to control the websites their children have access to, completely block specific devices from having access to the internet, and restrict internet access on specific devices to specific time intervals.

TM

TM Online Guard Application™

  • Launched in 2005 for Windows, extended to UniFi customers in 2010, and is available to Android users this month.
  • For Windows devices, it features parental control, file anti-virus, cloud protection, mail anti-virus, firewall, identity protection, anti-spam, privacy control and endpoint security.
  • For Android devices, it features parental control, file anti-virus, cloud protection, mail anti-virus, identity protection, anti-spam, privacy control, call and SMS filter, anti-theft and personal security.

HyppTV Parental Control™

  • The feature was introduced in 2010 as part of HyppTV services. It allows parents to lock any channel unsuitable for their children's viewing with a PIN number using remote control.