PETALING JAYA: The media can play a major role in educating parents about the importance of protecting their children from virtual predators, said Datuk Mohamed Sharil Tarmizi.
The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) chairman said children risked falling prey to unsavoury elements on the Internet.
He said all parties, including the Government, private sector, non-governmental organisations, civil society and the media, must play their part to combat the problem.
“It’s a common challenge for all of us as Internet users. We need to come together, increase our cooperation and find better ways of collaboration,” he said at a roundtable discussion on online child protection.
Lt Col (Ret) Prof Datuk Husin Jazri, the CyberSecurity Malaysia chief executive officer, said the Cyber 999 Help Centre received 43 reports last year involving Internet users below 18 years old.
He said cyber harassment incidents were the highest with about 23 reports, followed by fraud (nine), intrusion (nine), malicious code (one) and spam (one).
One report each was received so far this year for fraud, content and cyber harassment.
“Most of the complainants were 13 to 17 years old. But there were also primary school pupils. Most of the cases surrounded the use of social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter,” he said.
Women, Family and Community Development Ministry deputy secretary-general Harjeet Singh said children must be taught how to be “streetwise” in the cyberworld.
“The process of awareness and education can start from as early as five to six years old.
“We need to find a strategic programme that can expose and educate them that there are risks while accessing the Internet,” he said, adding that this could include using innovative games.
Harjeet said Malaysia was a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and had a legal framework to enforce its commitment through the Child Protection Act 2001.