KULAI, March 24 — Parents and guardians have been urged to lodge complaints with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) if recordings of their children’s images and videos are used as social media content by any party without permission.

Deputy Communications Minister Teo Nie Ching said MCMC also has the power to remove social media content involving children uploaded without the consent of their parents or guardians to ensure that no party is exploited for personal gain.

She said the Ministry of Communications does not have specific guidelines on the matter, but the Ministry of Education (MoE) has specific guidelines for the use of social media involving teachers and students issued since 2017.

"In principle, images and videos of children are very important for us to obtain parental consent, because they are the guardians of these children, that consent is necessary and it (the power to remove content) applies to all platforms. Action will be taken if uploaded without permission.

"So if the Ministry of Communications or MCMC receives complaints about TikTok videos or other social media about using images or videos of children without parental consent, MCMC will contact the platform to remove that content, because consent is very important,” she said.

The Kulai Member of Parliament said this to the media after a mosque and surau donation handover programme in conjunction with Ramadan for her constituency at a shopping centre here today.

On March 18, Communications and Multimedia Content Forum of Malaysia (CMCF) chairman Rafiq Razali was reported urging teachers not to use their students as content on social media, especially without parental consent.

On March 4, Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek was reported as saying that teachers cannot misuse social media platforms at will and strict action will be taken if they are found to have violated the relevant guidelines.

Meanwhile, on the handover programme, Teo said a total of RM87,000 had been donated by the Kulai Parliamentary Office to 29 mosques and 58 surau located within the constituency for this year’s Ramadan. — Bernama