KUALA LUMPUR – As Malaysia moves forward with the Online Safety Act 2025 (ONSA), clinical psychologist and family therapist KC Chiang, raising concerns that parents may be focusing on the wrong issues when it comes to children’s use of social media.
While many parents continue to worry about excessive screen time and lack of discipline, deeper risks such as online manipulation, grooming and unsafe interactions with strangers are often underestimated.
Clinical psychologist and family therapist said that based on her experience, parents rarely consider these aspects when addressing their children’s online behaviour.
“I don’t even see that the parents think about this aspect,” she said, referring to risks such as manipulation and harmful interactions online.
Instead, she noted that most concerns brought forward by parents tend to centre on overuse and discipline.
“Their main concern is there is an excessive” she said adding that the parents also concern about their child’s dicipline.
”My child lacks discipline, and please fix my child. Teach him some discipline to stay away from social media,” is what the she said the parents complain are.
However, Chiang stressed that the issue is far more complex than simply limiting screen time or blaming children for their habits.
When it comes to online interactions, particularly with strangers, she warned that the risks go beyond psychological harm and can escalate into real-world dangers.
“In the young mind, you’re easily influenced, you want to make friends, you can be easily misled,” she said.
According to Chiang, the children needs to be taught to not keep secrets from parents.
“If someone comes to you and says, hey, we're going to do this, please don't tell your parents the secret. You don't do that,” she explained further.
She also added that while social media is often blamed, the root causes of excessive usage may lie elsewhere, including a lack of connection and support in a child’s environment.
In some cases, she explained, social media becomes a coping mechanism for loneliness or isolation, particularly for children who lack strong family or social support systems.
“So what I’m trying to say is that it’s complicated now,” she said asking further who should be blamed.
“The blaming of the child, the blaming of the social media company, the blaming of the influencers. I mean, who do you blame? Right,” she asked, pointing to the interplay between family dynamics, environment and digital exposure.
Meanwhile, the family therapist also said that people must not jump the gun and blame the parents and abandonment and have to understand why the parents are forced to be away.
”They are struggling to try to provide what they think is best for this child,” she explained further.
Meanwhile, to tackle this issue, she stressed that parent-child bond is fundamental.
As ONSA introduces stricter measures to regulate online platforms and protect minors, Cheng emphasised that parental awareness must evolve alongside policy enforcement.
Rather than focusing solely on limiting usage, she said parents need to better understand the nature of online risks and maintain open communication with their children.
The law, she added, cannot function in isolation without active involvement from families in guiding and protecting young users in the digital space. - April 16, 2026
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