SELAYANG, Sept 24 - Cooperation between agencies and digital platform providers must be strengthened to prevent the sexual exploitation of children, which is growing increasingly complex online, said state executive councillor for women empowerment and welfare Anfaal Saari.
She said predators make use of various channels including online games, livestreaming, and dark web sites to approach victims or spread prohibited content, which means addressing this problem cannot depend on just enforcement but must be backed by the law, digital content controls, and safety education for children.
“... It is really worrying, not just concerning our children’s safety, but it could become an opportunity for those who manipulate or exploit online content.
“I think there should be cooperation between police criminal investigators, the Communications Ministry, and platforms concerned to control this content,” she told Media Selangor.
“Many of these activities happen on the dark web. I have seen for myself pictures and online content found on the dark web and it is chilling.
“For me, it should be addressed more seriously. Laws must be tighter because their purpose is to prevent wrongdoing from occurring again and again,” she added.
Anfaal also said predators can use online chatrooms and livestreaming to approach children, and that digital safety education is important to children so they understand the risks involved when interacting with strangers.
“Children must be given exposure (to digital safety measures), but the approach must be right so the lesson doesn’t cause them to be too curious to the point of them falling into (predators’ traps),” she added.
She highlighted that the Selangor government has been executing children’s protection and safety advocacy programmes since 2024 with the Social Welfare Department (JKM), Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), police, and other agencies concerned.
She said these programmes teach children about online safety and improve their awareness of bullying, and have been implemented in mainstream and residential schools, as well as institutions under the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (JAIS) and tahfiz centres.
“Safety (taught in these programmes) isn’t just about online safety. We work with the MCMC, police and counselling experts,” she added.
Anfaal explained that these efforts will continue because threats towards children change with technological advancements and the use of digital platforms.
“We have started (executing these programmes), which means we aren’t reactive. It’s not that we’re only doing it when there are operation reports, but we started earlier.
“Advocacy and awareness must be (spread) consistently because target groups could be in (various) areas,” she added.
Yesterday, police said 170 people have been arrested under Op Pedo and Op Cyber Guardian since 2024, and seized more than 2.1 million files containing child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and pornography.
Op Pedo 3.0 was conducted from September 14 to 16 and led to the arrests of 53 people and the seizure of 653,193 digital files, 540,127 of which contained CSAM.