Shafinaz said regulators were increasingly prioritising a “precautionary approach” when it comes to the social media landscape.
“For example, I think even MCMC would rather be accused of over-regulating than failing to act while all of these harms continue,” she said, referring to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission.
In response to CNA’s question on whether Meta’s teen accounts feature would be enough to make governments reconsider blanket bans, Chua said the company shares a “common purpose” with regulators.
“But there’s definitely, I think, more conversations to be had about how you can pursue the common intent,” he said.
“The conversations that we have with regulators is to figure out how we can keep people safe online, not just in a small number of apps that are actually perhaps more invested in safety than unregulated or newer apps.”
Chua reiterated Meta’s calls for age verification to be introduced at the base level of app stores, saying that this would be more efficient than requiring age verification for each of the dozens of apps that teens use.
This means app stores would be required to verify a user’s age before letting them download new apps.
Meta has shared with MCMC its child safety features and the unintended consequences of a ban, Chua said, calling it a “constructive working relationship”.
“My hope is those points are well registered,” he added.
CNA has reached out to MCMC for comment.
UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES
The unintended consequences tech firms talk about to rebuff blanket bans are not without merit, but only up to a point, experts told CNA.
Lee said it is true that underage users can circumvent restrictions through borrowed identities, older siblings’ accounts, VPNs, or migration to less regulated online spaces.
He also pointed to how Australia’s ban excludes standalone messaging apps, online gaming, professional networking, education and health support services, creating “obvious edge cases”.
But Lee said regulators keep insisting on bans or hard minimum-age rules because they no longer see this as just an access problem, but an incentives problem.
“In their view, platforms have had years to improve teen safety and have not earned the presumption of self-regulation,” he said.
“A ban is blunt, but it creates a non-negotiable compliance duty and shifts the burden back onto firms that design and profit from these systems.”
Lee also noted that Australia’s framework includes continuing oversight and an independent review within two years.
“In other words, Australia has accepted that this is not a one-off announcement but an evolving regulatory programme,” he added.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/malaysia-social-media-ban-teens-child-safety-big-tech-5991331
