Govt Urged To Fast Track Action Plan To Protect Children Online

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Wanita MCA chief Wong You Fong today called for the urgent fast-tracking of a “Digital Action Plan for Child Protection” in Malaysia, emphasising its critical importance amidst a surge in sexual crimes against children.
She said this is especially true with the increasing complexity of online crimes involving “deep fakes” and sexual grooming.
“It is vital that police and social workers are equipped to identify and handle tech-enabled sexual offences,” she said in a statement today.
The statement did not elaborate on what such an action plan should entail.
ADSWong (above) cited Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s press conference yesterday, where he said the number of child victims of sexual crimes has increased from 2,561 in 2020 to 3,892 last year - a 55.7 percent increase.
“These are not just numbers. Each case represents a real child, a family, and a life affected by trauma. Behind every statistic is a victim whose suffering must not be overlooked,” Wong said.
She also urged the government to establish a task force involving the Education Ministry, Home Ministry, Women, Family and Community Development Ministry, and Communications Ministry to coordinate investigations, strengthen monitoring, and introduce targeted preventive measures.
Other countries such as Australia, Singapore, and Finland have already introduced cross-agency frameworks to prevent child sexual abuse.
“These include compulsory education in schools, clear protection and reporting systems, national databases to track high-risk individuals, enhanced digital investigation capabilities, and greater support for families,” she said.
Challenges
Yesterday, Deputy Home Minister Shamsul Anuar Nasarah told Parliament that police have investigated 287 cases since 2021 related to the production, possession, distribution, access, download and upload of child sexual abuse materials.
These have resulted in a 90 percent conviction rate.
However, he said police still face several challenges in tackling child sexual abuse, including perpetrators using virtual private networks to mask their trail, the deletion or encryption of digital evidence, and the use of deepfakes to produce inappropriate images and videos of children.
Deputy Home Minister Shamsul Anuar NasarahShamsul’s assertion that the use of deepfakes has complicated investigations was criticised by child rights advocates, who pointed out existing laws would allow for the successful prosecution of those involved with AI-generated imagery of children engaging in sexually explicit acts.
“The law does not require any verification of ‘the authenticity and legitimacy of such materials’, or do these laws allow any loophole for ‘manipulated or falsified evidence’,” said Child Rights Innovation and Betterment (Crib) Foundation co-chairperson Srividhya Ganapathy.
She added that frontline police personnel and prosecution officers lack understanding of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act, and there is an urgent need for training programmes targeted at the successful prosecution of child sexual offences. - Mkini

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