Kuala Lumpur: In conjunction with Safer Internet Day 2025, four like-minded organisations have joined forces to launch Youths IRL (In Real Life), a fellowship designed to equip young changemakers with the knowledge and skills to champion online safety and scams awareness in the community.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, the organisations involved are Ratio:Cause, CelcomDigi Berhad, Communications and Multimedia Content Forum of Malaysia (Content Forum), and Meta Platforms, Inc. The Youths IRL fellowship has selected 10 promising youths, aged between 18 and 25, from Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Kedah, Perak, Sabah, and Sarawak. These individuals were chosen based on their strong interest in online safety issues, critical thinking skills, and ideas for solutions or measures to address these issues.
Through mentorship from the Ministry of Communications, CelcomDigi, Content Forum, PayNet, and CyberSecurity Malaysia, the participants will be trained in online safety, scam awareness, and digital fluency while gaining a foundation in public policy. These youths will also engage in forums to discuss the on-ground realities and challenges faced by the digital society and identify the gaps in legislation to ensure that policies and regulations remain relevant and effective in addressing online safety issues.
At the end of the three-month fellowship, these digital native youths will develop a working paper with policy recommendations on online content and internet governance, which will be presented to the Ministry of Communications. The fellowship is part of a holistic programme called the Online Safety IRL campaign, aimed at empowering Malaysians with online safety habits and perspectives to combat the rise in online harms such as scams, online child abuse, and cyberbullying.
The campaign also includes the Creators IRL fellowship, where 10 social media influencers and content creators are equipped with creative strategies to integrate online safety knowledge into their content, strengthening community resilience against online harms through their platforms. Together, the overall Online Safety IRL social media campaign has produced over 40 videos across platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok, focusing on scam awareness, child online safety, and anti-cyberbullying, dangers on online gaming websites, and actions to take if encountered any such threats, including awareness on the National Scam Resource Centre's 997 hotline.
Deputy Communications Minister Teo Nie Ching highlighted the need for continuous engagement with youths and content creators in improving the safety of digital spaces. She emphasized the importance of a balanced approach in tackling online threats, holding perpetrators accountable while empowering internet users with knowledge to protect themselves. By equipping youths with knowledge of online safety and including youth voices in policymaking, the aim is to work towards digital policies that reflect the experiences of internet users.
The Ministry of Communications aims to cultivate a digital environment that nurtures creativity, innovation, and freedom of expression while upholding the law. The Deputy Minister expressed gratitude to the content creators, youth leaders, and stakeholders in the social media and telecommunications industries committed to working together to achieve these goals. She acknowledged the progress made so far and looked forward to future collective efforts.
For more information on the programmes and to view the output from Creators IRL fellows, please visit onlinesafetyirl.com and follow @heycreatorsirl on Instagram and TikTok. To stay updated on Youths IRL, follow @youthsirl on Instagram and TikTok.