Malaysia on Monday began enforcing a new regulation that prohibits children under 16 from holding social media accounts, according to an Associated Press report. The rules apply to platforms with at least 8 million users, including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok , and YouTube. Companies that fail to comply risk fines of up to 10 million ringgit ($2.5 million), but parents will not be penalized if their children circumvent the ban.

The 8-million-user threshold and what it means for key platforms

The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission, the regulator behind the rules, set the user threshold to target the largest social media services . According to the AP, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube all meet the 8-million-user mark in Malaysia. Smaller platforms fall outside the mandate, which could inadvertently push underage users toward less regulated alternatives—a concern raised by Meta’s director of public policy for Southeast Asia, Clara Koh.

Why a $2.5 million fine may not be enough

The penalty for non-compliance—up to 10 million ringgit, or roughly $2.5 million—is substantial for local operators but a relative fraction for global tech giants. As the AP report notes,the regulator said a grace period will be given for platforms to complete implementation of age-verification systems. Yet the fine alone may not deter deep-pocketed companies if compliance costs are high or technical challenges persist.. Critics argue that the threat of penalties must be paired with robust oversight to be effective.

The data privacy flashpoint: requiring government IDs for age verification

Benjamin Loh, a social science lecturer at Monash University in Malaysia, told the AP that the requirement for government-issued identification for age verification “is raising alarms” about data privacy. The regulator has framed the rules as a safety measure,but Loh noted that similar age-based restrictions elsewhere have not proven consistently effective. The privacy implications are particularly acute in a region where data protection laws are still evolving.

No parent penalties: the gap critics say could unravel the law

The decision to exempt parents from penalties is a major loophole, according to Loh. “This is a major gap that unless regulators are willing to fix, will result in the law having little effect in stopping children from using social media,” he said in the AP report.. Without consequences for adults who create accounts for their underage children, the law may be easily bypassed. The regulator has not indicated whether it plans to revisit this provision.

Malaysia joins a global wave—but precedents show mixed results

Malaysia’s crackdown aligns with a growing international trend. According to the AP report, countries including Britain, France, Spain, and Australia have introduced or announced age-based restrictions. However, enforcement remains a challenge everywhere. In Australia, a similar ban on under-16s sparked debate about feasibility and privacy, while France’s age-verification proposals have faced technical hurdles. Malaysia’s move is thus part of a broader, still-unproven experiment in online child safety.