LETTERS: Malaysia’s new Online Safety Act 2025 arrives at a pivotal moment in our digital evolution. Designed to protect users—especially children—from harmful content, the Act signals a strong national commitment to making online spaces safer and more accountable.
Yet, like all broad regulatory frameworks, the details matter, and the implications deserve careful public discussion.
At its core, the Act compels platforms and digital service providers to take greater responsibility for what appears on their networks.
This includes introducing stronger safety tools, improving reporting systems, implementing age-appropriate protections, and reducing children’s exposure to harmful or predatory content.
These are welcome developments at a time when cyberbullying, grooming, misinformation and online exploitation have become increasingly common.
Still, the same mechanisms created to protect can also overreach. The Act’s broad definitions of “harmful” content may encourage platforms to remove legitimate material out of fear of penalties.
Excessive content filtering risks sweeping away educational resources, nuanced discussions and socially important conversations. Mandatory age-verification systems may also raise questions about privacy, data collection and the security of personal information.
For the Act to achieve its goals without compromising fundamental freedoms, several improvements are worth considering.
First, clearer definitions of harmful content are essential to avoid ambiguity.
Second, transparent reporting of content removals and an accessible appeals process will help maintain fairness.
Third, the law should distinguish between large commercial platforms and small community sites, which cannot reasonably bear the same compliance burden.
Fourth, any safety framework must be accompanied by strong digital-literacy programmes to empower parents, educators and young people to navigate the online world confidently.
The Online Safety Act 2025 has the potential to make the Malaysian internet safer and more responsible. But safety must be balanced with freedom, and regulation must be matched with education.
If implemented with transparency, fairness and proportionality, this Act can enhance online wellbeing without silencing the diversity and expression that sustain a healthy digital society.
TAN SRI LEE LAM THYE
Kuala Lumpur
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times
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