BALI, Oct 20 — Asean countries must work together to protect children from growing online threats despite differences in their laws and approaches to internet safety, said Malaysia’s Communications Minister Datuk Seri Fahmi Fadzil.
He said countries in the region shared the challenge of keeping the internet safe for children and needed to strengthen cooperation to address these threats.
“The internet is good. The internet can be put to good use. But do children know how to use it well?” he said in his keynote address at Bali Tech Week 2026, initiated by Indonesia’s Ministry of Communication and Digital today.
Fahmi said Malaysia wanted to ensure that children below the age of 16 were unable to open social media accounts, although approaches to online safety for children could differ between Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and other Asean countries.
