Stop the ‘doomscrolling’: Fahmi says parents need to be digital traffic cops for their own kids

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 24 — Communications Minister Datuk Seri Fahmi Fadzil has urged parents to take a more proactive role in monitoring their children's online activities to safeguard them from cyber threats, including sexual crimes and cyberbullying. "We need to know what our children are viewing. Giving a child a mobile phone is much like giving them a car, many things can happen if they are not properly supervised," he said on the Agenda Daily's Agenda Malaysia podcast.

Fahmi highlighted the recent arrest of 53 individuals under Op Pedo 2, and the seizure of more than 54,000 files related to online child predation as evidence of the need for parental supervision. He urged parents to utilize parental control features to limit device usage and block risky applications, while discouraging "doomscrolling" or excessive social media consumption.

Under the proposed Online Safety Act 2025, social media platform providers could face fines of up to RM10 million per offense if they fail to comply with the law, which aims to hold them responsible for curbing fake accounts, online sexual offences, and cyberbullying. Fahmi emphasized that the law gives platform operators time to cooperate but warned that fines could be imposed if they do not take action.

The minister also discussed the importance of identity verification for social media accounts, suggesting that citizens use official documents like MyKid, birth certificates, or MyKad to verify users aged 16 or above. He noted that nearly 90% of the content requested by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) for removal related to scams and online gambling.

To address online scams targeting vulnerable groups like retirees and civil servants, Fahmi advised immediate contact with the National Scam Response Centre (NSRC) at 997 within 15 to 30 minutes of an incident to enable the transaction to be blocked.