This article first appeared in Digital Edge, The Edge Malaysia Weekly on February 24, 2025 - March 2, 2025

Scams and digital threats have become more sophisticated than ever, leading to a surge in artificial intelligence (AI)-driven tactics used by fraudsters to exploit unsuspecting victims.

At the same time, cases of cyberbullying on social media have been on the rise, with appearance-based bullying being the most prevalent, says Philip Ling, head of sustainability at CelcomDigi Bhd.

The situation has become dire as Malaysians have lost RM1.3 billion in 2023 and RM1.6 billion in 2024 due to online scams, with investment scams being the most popular, says Lai Lee Ching, principal assistant director of strategic planning at the commercial crime investigation department at Bukit Aman.

This prompted the government to come up with initiatives such as Semak Mule and the 997 hotline for The National Scam Response Centre to provide ways to aid victims of scams. For instance, Semak Mule is a tool that allows users to check if a bank account or phone number has been flagged for fraud, while the 997 hotline provides a platform for victims to report a scam. While these initiatives have been helpful for victims, public awareness still remains a challenge.

To address this issue, Ratio:Cause, CelcomDigi, Communications and Multimedia Content Forum of Malaysia and Meta Platforms Inc have joined forces to launch the Online Safety Campaign, a programme designed to equip Malaysians with essential online safety habits and perspectives to combat the growing threat of online harms. The campaign includes two key initiatives: the Creators IRL (In Real Life) Fellowship, which supports content creators, and the Youths IRL Fellowship, which empowers youth leaders.

The Creators IRL programme has fostered strong online safety advocates among content creators, amassing over seven million views and engagements.

Building on this success, the Youths IRL programme was launched to empower young leaders to drive change in their communities. By equipping them with essential skills, the initiative aims to create a snowball effect, expanding online safety awareness to a wider audience.

These initiatives empower young voices to raise online safety awareness within their communities while also providing them with a platform to share insights and experiences, helping policymakers develop more relevant and up-to-date laws and policies, says New Su Shern, executive director of Ratio:Cause.

“If we see the youth’s backgrounds, they are from different communities and able to represent their communities, so they’re also able to provide us with insight on these different communities,” says New.

“The idea is really for them to be able to let us and our partners know the reality  on the ground. And we hope that through this programme, cross-collaboration can happen between the youth, the creators and also the ministry.”

Mediha Mahmood, CEO of the Content Forum, stresses the need for proper representation in content development to ensure its continued relevance.

“We need a proper representative to build the content to make sure that it’s always relevant over the days of time, because currently, the [Content Code] has nothing on AI.

“We talk about misleading advertisements, but we don’t mention AI in the entire book. One of the things that we want to change is that [from] Youths IRL, I’m really looking forward to seeing what the actual digital natives have to say about this, and what other emerging challenges that they may have or face that we do not know,” says Mediha.

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