The government will examine whether eKYC identity checks and age verification can be extended to online gaming platforms such as Roblox, Communications Minister Datuk Seri Fahmi Fadzil said.
He said the study will take into account issues involving underage users as well as the possibility of such platforms being used by extremist, radical and terrorist groups, Malay Mail reported.
Fahmi said discussions with Roblox since last year showed the company is ready to cooperate, and that the remaining question is how users and their ages are verified.
“The issue might only be in terms of user verification and user age verification. So we will look into the suitability of expanding aspects of eKYC and age verification to platforms like Roblox,” he told reporters after a document exchange ceremony for a RM5.2 billion financing facility for Digital Nasional Bhd in Kuala Lumpur on 19 Oct.
He was responding to a statement by former Deputy Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay on the issue, which also covers underage children.
Fahmi said the government, through bodies including the National Security Council, monitors platforms that may be misused by such groups, and that the Royal Malaysia Police and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission will act if the need arises, The Edge Malaysia noted.
“We will consider various aspects, but if prompt action needs to be taken, that will certainly be carried out by the authorities,” he said.
Separately, Fahmi said he will discuss age restriction efforts for social media users with his Indonesian counterpart during a visit that began on 19 Oct. He left for Bali before travelling to Jakarta for the World Conference on Creative Economy 2026, where he is scheduled to meet ministers responsible for communications and digital, as well as culture.
“Indonesia has its own ways, its own regulatory framework, and there are differences and similarities with Malaysia. We will discuss to look at the challenges faced in discussions with these social media platform service providers,” he said.
The meeting with Indonesia’s minister of culture will also cover Malaysia’s aim to bring local intellectual property to Indonesian audiences. Fahmi noted that Malaysian works on streaming platforms such as Viu are already watched in the neighbouring country.
Both sides will also look at ways to connect Malaysia’s and Indonesia’s cinema networks and discuss productions that carry online content.
eKYC is the process of confirming a user’s identity online, usually by checking an identity document or a national digital identity record instead of meeting the person in person. Age verification works alongside it, using the same checks to confirm whether a user is old enough for a platform’s features or content.
