KUALA LUMPUR – The Communications Ministry will be launching an online safety campaign to help curb crimes targeting kids, especially those under the age of 13, said its minister Fahmi Fadzil.
Speaking to reporters after launching the Kita Madani Carnival in Kerinchi here today, he said the Online Safety for Children and Families campaign will also highlight steps that families can take to protect their children from harm, especially child grooming.
“Recently, Bukit Aman’s Sexual, Women and Child Investigation Division (D11) said WhatsApp is the most misused platform for sexual grooming involving kids.
“Parents do see that these social media platforms bring a lot of benefits. But there are harms and risks. So I hope we can raise awareness, especially on steps that we need to take to guarantee online safety for our kids and families, through this campaign.”
He said the ministry will be collaborating with other government agencies, including the Personal Data Protection Department and police, to realise the campaign.
Meanwhile, Fahmi said during his recent official working trip to Sabah and Sarawak, there were several telecommunication tower contractors who were sloppy and did not adhere to the agreed timeframe.
“We have given a final warning to these errant companies and they need to get the project done immediately because these projects are funded by the rakyat.
“So, these companies have received the clearest signal from me and several others, including the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission, to ensure the project is completed soon.
“If we find that they still fail to meet the timeline, we will take strict action against these companies.”
He revealed that some of the errant companies were awarded the contract to build telecommunication towers in January 2022 for a nine-month construction period.
“Currently, these projects have been awarded to two to four companies in these two states. So some companies have made about 50% progress, some 60% and maybe even 80%.
“So, this is a priority because their representatives will ask about the updates on these projects at the parliamentary sitting at the end of June. So, I do not want to prolong these issues, as we just want to make sure the tower is completed as soon as possible.” – June 1, 2024