News & Reviews:   online

In case you missed the news over the weekend, Malaysia is set to introduce stricter online safety measures beginning 1 June, requiring social media users to verify their age using official government-issued documents. The move comes under new regulations introduced through the Online Safety Act 2025 by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC).

Meta Newsroom has announced a new set of parental supervision features across Instagram and Facebook aimed at giving parents greater visibility into how teenagers interact with recommendation algorithms and online content. The update expands Meta’s existing family supervision tools as global scrutiny around teen social media safety, mental health, and algorithmic influence continues to intensify.

The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) is intensifying efforts to promote the use of parental control tools as part of its broader Safe Internet Campaign, aimed at encouraging safer digital habits among Malaysian families. The initiative reflects growing concerns over children’s exposure to harmful online content, cyber threats, and excessive screen time as internet usage among younger users continues to rise nationwide.

As teased before, Ryt Bank finally announced a major upgrade to its payment ecosystem, enabling customers to use Ryt PayLater directly through the Ryt Card for both local and global transactions. The move extends PayLater functionality beyond QR payments, giving users the flexibility to choose between paying immediately or spreading payments over time across more scenarios.

The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has been quite busy these past few months. Besides ramping up the social media ban for under-16s by June or July 2026, MCMC has been stepping up efforts to curb harmful online content, with new figures revealing a sharp volume of takedown requests submitted in just the first few months of the year.

Today, Google has introduced a new certification requirement for financial services advertisers targeting Malaysia, aimed at strengthening protections against online financial scams. The new measure, known as Financial Services Verification (FSV), adds an additional layer of security to Google’s existing financial products and services advertising policies.

In a continuous effort to battle online scams, Maxis has rolled out an integrated artificial intelligence-powered network firewall, designed to combat digital fraud across both voice and SMS traffic. The system has been operational since January 2026 and forms part of the company’s broader multi-layered security framework aimed at delivering safer connectivity for customers.

Oh boy, here we go again. It was only recently that Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said we should stop the AI Slop term. Now, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has publicly argued that relentless negativity around artificial intelligence is unhelpful for society, innovation, and the technology industry, urging people and commentators to rethink doom-laden narratives about AI’s risks.

In a continuous battle against online scams, our Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is slated to officially open a new National Scam Response Centre (NSRC) office in January 2026. The new NSRC headquarters will be housed at Tower 2 of the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) in Cyberjaya, shifting operations from its previous base at Sasana Kijang under Bank Negara Malaysia.

Malaysia’s banking industry is stepping up its cybersecurity messaging, as member banks of the Association of Banks in Malaysia (ABM) and the Association of Islamic Banking and Financial Institutions Malaysia (AIBIM) jointly urge customers to keep their web browsers and mobile devices fully updated. The move comes amid rising online scams and malware threats that increasingly exploit outdated software and unsupported operating systems.