Child online protection regulation being refined - Rohani

The Women, Family and Community Development Ministry will refine the regulations regarding child online protection to protect children from the negative effects of the internet.

Its Minister Datuk Seri Rohani Abdul Karim said several series of meetings had been held to draw up the regulations, involving representatives from various parties including the Ministry of Communication and Multimedia, Ministry of Health and the Education Ministry.

"This might be a regulation for us to protect children from negative effects while they are online," she told a press conference after officiating the closing of the national level seminar on the Protection of Children at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) on Wednesday.

She said the regulations were expected to be ready by next year.

However, Rohani said, the role of the parents in monitoring their children's activities while on the internet was very important.

Earlier, Rohani said statistics from the Social Welfare Department showed an increase in the number of cases of abuse, neglect, violence and children exploitation, rising from 3,257 cases in 2010 to 4,119 last year.

"It has been identified that the person closest to the child is usually the abuser, which is the mother, father or lover of one of the parents," she said.