Is Easy Access to Social Media Causing Social Problems Among Children?

Yes, Easy access to social media especially sexual content is one of the reasons causing social problems among children

According to the Director of Bukit Aman criminal investigation department, Datuk Seri, children easily get access to negative things, especially pornographic content contained in social media.

It’s the nature of children to want to explore something they have seen. They look at people getting intimate and next thing you know, they are practicing it.

“Platform providers and regulators have a big task and responsibility to ensure that this kind of sensitive content is filtered. This is to enhance safety for the children.

Chief of Child Protection UNICEF Malaysia Saskia Blume said around four per cent of children, which is equivalent to 100,000 children aged 12 to 17 years old in Malaysia, have been subjected to online sexual exploitation.

She shared that UNICEF conducted a research on youths on what was their hope on this issue. The main complaints from young people is that the first hope  is that there should be safety by design and child-centered features, followed by very concrete demands and ideas. Second, digital literacy as well as for parents, caregivers and teachers, and lastly, child-friendly reporting mechanisms.

Director of ICT Policy Department, Ministry of Post and Telecommunications Cambodia Sodany Tan said her country has their own child online protection guidelines that are developed, monitored, implemented, and evaluated to ensure that businesses comply with their obligations to prevent their networks or online services from being used in ways that cause or contribute to violations or abuses of children’s rights.

I think the developers of these online sites should also find a way of filtering and censoring online posts. Having child friendly reporting sites could be another way of getting the children themselves reporting content that they feel are out of line.

To help achieve this, parents should also be keen with what their children are doing online. Setting parental controls on their gadgets is also necessary. They shouldn’t also forget to talk to their children about the dangers of social media and practicing whatever they see there.

written by Beneditta Muema