Protecting children against exposure to content risks online in Malaysia: Lessons from Australia

Children are the most vulnerable group in any civil society. The rise of digital technology has made them more exposed to threats of content risks through exposure to illegal and harmful Internet content. To make matters worse, legal framework regulating the Internet in Malaysia i.e. self-regulation...

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Main Authors: Daud, Mahyuddin, Abd. Jalil, Juriah
Format: Article
Language:English
English
Published: UKM Press 2017
Subjects:
Online Access:http://irep.iium.edu.my/56340/
http://irep.iium.edu.my/56340/
http://irep.iium.edu.my/56340/1/Jurnal%20Komunikasi%20-%20Protecting%20Children%20against%20Exposure%20to%20Content%20Risks%20Online%20in%20Malaysia.pdf
http://irep.iium.edu.my/56340/7/56340_Protecting%20children%20against%20exposur_SCOPUS.pdf
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recordtype eprints
spelling iium-563402017-07-12T07:33:36Z http://irep.iium.edu.my/56340/ Protecting children against exposure to content risks online in Malaysia: Lessons from Australia Daud, Mahyuddin Abd. Jalil, Juriah K Law (General) Children are the most vulnerable group in any civil society. The rise of digital technology has made them more exposed to threats of content risks through exposure to illegal and harmful Internet content. To make matters worse, legal framework regulating the Internet in Malaysia i.e. self-regulation does not mandate service providers to implement technical measures that could help reduce children’s exposure to content risks. Continuous exposure to content risk could lead to dilution of traditional values among younger generation. In order to reduce this outcome, all Internet stakeholders in Malaysia must take Internet regulation more seriously. This paper consists of three parts. The first part argues that content risks are a real threat to children in Malaysia as seen in previous studies. The second part of this paper presents the outcome of library research and focus group discussions with Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), selected Internet service providers in Malaysia and the Communications and Multimedia Content Forum (CMCF) on the regulatory measures practiced in the Malaysian self-regulation framework. This research finds non-censorship policy that does not mandate service providers to classify nor filter prohibited content to be problematic since it greatly exposed children to content risks. Furthermore, the Content Code, which guides the industrial self-regulation had no enforcement teeth, hence weakened the regulatory framework as a whole. In comparison, Australian co-regulation scheme has been focusing on protection of children online through classification and filtering measures. Lessons learnt from the Australian jurisdiction could be of reference to Malaysia in its effort to reduce children’s exposure to content risks online – as addressed in the final part of this paper. UKM Press 2017 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://irep.iium.edu.my/56340/1/Jurnal%20Komunikasi%20-%20Protecting%20Children%20against%20Exposure%20to%20Content%20Risks%20Online%20in%20Malaysia.pdf application/pdf en http://irep.iium.edu.my/56340/7/56340_Protecting%20children%20against%20exposur_SCOPUS.pdf Daud, Mahyuddin and Abd. Jalil, Juriah (2017) Protecting children against exposure to content risks online in Malaysia: Lessons from Australia. Malaysian Journal of Communication = Jurnal Komunikasi, 33 (1). pp. 115-126. ISSN 2289-151X E-ISSN 2289-1528 http://ejournal.ukm.my/mjc/article/view/17172/5301
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Local University
institution International Islamic University Malaysia
building IIUM Repository
collection Online Access
language English
English
topic K Law (General)
spellingShingle K Law (General)
Daud, Mahyuddin
Abd. Jalil, Juriah
Protecting children against exposure to content risks online in Malaysia: Lessons from Australia
description Children are the most vulnerable group in any civil society. The rise of digital technology has made them more exposed to threats of content risks through exposure to illegal and harmful Internet content. To make matters worse, legal framework regulating the Internet in Malaysia i.e. self-regulation does not mandate service providers to implement technical measures that could help reduce children’s exposure to content risks. Continuous exposure to content risk could lead to dilution of traditional values among younger generation. In order to reduce this outcome, all Internet stakeholders in Malaysia must take Internet regulation more seriously. This paper consists of three parts. The first part argues that content risks are a real threat to children in Malaysia as seen in previous studies. The second part of this paper presents the outcome of library research and focus group discussions with Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), selected Internet service providers in Malaysia and the Communications and Multimedia Content Forum (CMCF) on the regulatory measures practiced in the Malaysian self-regulation framework. This research finds non-censorship policy that does not mandate service providers to classify nor filter prohibited content to be problematic since it greatly exposed children to content risks. Furthermore, the Content Code, which guides the industrial self-regulation had no enforcement teeth, hence weakened the regulatory framework as a whole. In comparison, Australian co-regulation scheme has been focusing on protection of children online through classification and filtering measures. Lessons learnt from the Australian jurisdiction could be of reference to Malaysia in its effort to reduce children’s exposure to content risks online – as addressed in the final part of this paper.
format Article
author Daud, Mahyuddin
Abd. Jalil, Juriah
author_facet Daud, Mahyuddin
Abd. Jalil, Juriah
author_sort Daud, Mahyuddin
title Protecting children against exposure to content risks online in Malaysia: Lessons from Australia
title_short Protecting children against exposure to content risks online in Malaysia: Lessons from Australia
title_full Protecting children against exposure to content risks online in Malaysia: Lessons from Australia
title_fullStr Protecting children against exposure to content risks online in Malaysia: Lessons from Australia
title_full_unstemmed Protecting children against exposure to content risks online in Malaysia: Lessons from Australia
title_sort protecting children against exposure to content risks online in malaysia: lessons from australia
publisher UKM Press
publishDate 2017
url http://irep.iium.edu.my/56340/
http://irep.iium.edu.my/56340/
http://irep.iium.edu.my/56340/1/Jurnal%20Komunikasi%20-%20Protecting%20Children%20against%20Exposure%20to%20Content%20Risks%20Online%20in%20Malaysia.pdf
http://irep.iium.edu.my/56340/7/56340_Protecting%20children%20against%20exposur_SCOPUS.pdf
first_indexed 2023-09-18T21:19:28Z
last_indexed 2023-09-18T21:19:28Z
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