Malaysia presses TikTok to introduce age verification to protect minors
Malaysia has called on TikTok to roll out age verification tools for its users, citing concerns over harmful content affecting children, officials said on Thursday.
Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil said he was “very dissatisfied” with TikTok’s current efforts after meeting the platform’s senior management at police headquarters. “There needs to be a mechanism for age verification,” he said, adding that TikTok will work with authorities, including the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission and the police, to address the issue, News.Az reports, citing Reuters.
TikTok, owned by China’s ByteDance, has not yet commented on the request.
Malaysia has stepped up scrutiny of social media platforms amid a surge in harmful online material. Since January, platforms with more than 8 million users in the country are required to obtain a government licence. Authorities also plan to summon Meta Platforms—parent company of Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram—and X for similar talks.
The government defines harmful content as including online gambling, scams, child pornography, cyberbullying, grooming, and sensitive posts related to race, religion, and royalty. Fahmi warned that penalties could follow if companies fail to comply.
Globally, pressure is rising on social platforms to protect young users. Britain introduced mandatory age checks for pornography sites in July, while France, Spain, Italy, Denmark and Greece are testing a shared template for age verification apps. Australia has already banned children under 16 from using social media.
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