Koko News | Global | 2 days ago

Malaysian parents welcome plan to ban kids from social media but wary of state-sanctioned content push

Malaysianparentswelcomeplanstobarchildrenfromhavingsocialmediaaccounts, butarelesskeenonaproposaltopushstate-sanctionedfamilycontenttostoptheconsumptionofdamagingonlinematerial.

馬來西亞家長對禁止兒童擁有社交媒體帳戶的計劃表示歡迎，但對推動國家認可的家庭內容以阻止兒童消費有害網路材料的提議不太熱衷。

CommunicationsMinisterFahmiFadzilwarnedparentsonTuesdayagainstoverusingmobiledevicesas'digitalnannies'thatkeepchildrenoccupied.

通訊部長法赫米·法齊爾 (Fahmi Fadzil) 週二警告家長不要過度使用移動設備，不要讓孩子成為“數字保姆”，讓他們無所事事。

Thegovernmentsaiditwasstudyingthepossibilityofenforcingabanonchildrenbelowtheageof13fromhavingsocialmediaaccountstoprotectthemfromharmful“brainrot”– atermforrepetitiveshort-formcontentthathasbeenblamedforbehaviouralchangesinyoungpeople.

政府表示，正在研究禁止 13 歲以下兒童擁有社群媒體帳號的可能性，以保護他們免受有害的「腦腐病」——重複的短篇內容被認為是導致年輕人行為改變的原因。

Theplancouldalsoincludeincreasingtheamountoflocallyproducedfamily-friendlycontentapprovedbythegovernment, aswellasdigitalliteracymodulesforchildrenaged13andoldertohelpthemnavigatethedelugeofinformationavailableonline, Fahmitoldparliament.

法赫米在議會中表示，該計劃還可能包括增加政府批准的本地製作的家庭友好內容的數量，以及為 13 歲及以上兒童提供數位素養模組，以幫助他們應對網路上的大量資訊。

ParentswhospoketoThisWeekinAsiasaidbarringyoungchildrenfromhavingtheirownsocialmediaaccountswasagoodmove, butarguedthatitwasstillastruggletokeeptabsontheirchildren’sdigitalconsumptionhabits.

接受《本週亞洲》採訪的家長們表示，禁止年幼的孩子擁有自己的社群媒體帳號是個好舉措，但他們也認為，監管孩子的數位消費習慣仍然很困難。

Malaysiahasprogressivelyimposedstrictlawsonsocialmedia, seekingtolimititsencroachmentonsocietalnormsandcombatrampantscams, onlinegambling, andthesharpriseincyberbullyingandsexualexploitation, especiallytargetedatchildren.

馬來西亞已逐步對社群媒體實施嚴格的法律，試圖限制其對社會規範的侵犯，並打擊猖獗的詐騙、網路賭博以及網路霸凌和性剝削（尤其是針對兒童）的急劇增加。

Forcingchildrentoconsumeonlycontentapprovedbythegovernmentmayendupbackfiring, however, aschildrenarekeenlyawareofthemanyloopholesthatcanbefoundontheinternet, accordingto40-year-oldhomemakerKellyChang.

然而，40 歲的家庭主婦凱莉張 (Kelly Chang) 表示，強迫孩子只觀看政府批准的內容最終可能會適得其反，因為孩子們非常清楚網路上存在許多漏洞。

Changhasimposedastrictlimitofonehouradayforhertwochildren, aged11andnine, foronlineentertainment. Eventhen, shesaidtheyhadcaughtthe“ItalianBrainRot”bug.

張女士嚴格限制她11歲和9歲的兩個孩子每天上網的時間，不得超過一小時。即便如此，她說他們還是染上了「義大利腦腐病」。

WidelypopularamongGenerationAlpha–thosebornfrom 2010–ItalianBrainRotisarecenttrendofsurrealandnonsensicalcontentthatincludesimagesandvideosofhybridcreatureswithsupposedlyItalian-soundingnameslikeCappuccinoAssassinoandChimpanziniBananini, allgeneratedusingartificialintelligence.

「義大利腦腐病」在 Alpha 世代（2010 年出生的人）中廣受歡迎，是最近流行的一種超現實和荒謬的內容趨勢，其中包括混合生物的圖像和視頻，這些生物的名字聽起來像義大利的，例如 Cappuccino Assassino 和 Chimpanzini Bananini，所有這些都是使用人工智慧生成的。

MinisterFahmi’splantocurb“brainrot”andsupplantitwithgovernment-sanctionedcontentalsodrewflakonMalaysia’sdiscordantsocialmedia, withsomeaccusingthegovernmentofinsteadnarrowingthespaceforfreespeech.

法赫米部長計劃遏制「腦腐爛」並用政府認可的內容取而代之，這也引發了馬來西亞社群媒體上的強烈批評，有些人指責政府反而縮小了言論自由的空間。

Malaysian parents welcome plans to bar children from having social media accounts, but are less keen on a proposal to push state-sanctioned family content to stop the consumption of damaging online material.

Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil warned parents on Tuesday against overusing mobile devices as 'digital nannies' that keep children occupied.

The government said it was studying the possibility of enforcing a ban on children below the age of 13 from having social media accounts to protect them from harmful “brain rot” – a term for repetitive short-form content that has been blamed for behavioural changes in young people.

The plan could also include increasing the amount of locally produced family-friendly content approved by the government, as well as digital literacy modules for children aged 13 and older to help them navigate the deluge of information available online, Fahmi told parliament.

Parents who spoke to This Week in Asia said barring young children from having their own social media accounts was a good move, but argued that it was still a struggle to keep tabs on their children’s digital consumption habits.

Malaysia has progressively imposed strict laws on social media, seeking to limit its encroachment on societal norms and combat rampant scams, online gambling, and the sharp rise in cyberbullying and sexual exploitation, especially targeted at children.

Forcing children to consume only content approved by the government may end up backfiring, however, as children are keenly aware of the many loopholes that can be found on the internet, according to 40-year-old homemaker Kelly Chang.

Chang has imposed a strict limit of one hour a day for her two children, aged 11 and nine, for online entertainment. Even then, she said they had caught the “Italian Brain Rot” bug.

Widely popular among Generation Alpha – those born from 2010 – Italian Brain Rot is a recent trend of surreal and nonsensical content that includes images and videos of hybrid creatures with supposedly Italian-sounding names like Cappuccino Assassino and Chimpanzini Bananini, all generated using artificial intelligence.

Minister Fahmi’s plan to curb “brain rot” and supplant it with government-sanctioned content also drew flak on Malaysia’s discordant social media, with some accusing the government of instead narrowing the space for free speech.