DIGITAL literacy should no longer be viewed as a specialised skill but as an essential life skill that Malaysians need to develop from childhood and continuously strengthen as their online and offline lives become increasingly intertwined.
Communications and Multimedia Content Forum (CMCF) chief executive officer Mediha Mahmood said much of daily life now takes place while connected, making digital awareness and savviness as important as the caution people naturally exercise when navigating unfamiliar physical situations.
“For me, digital literacy is no longer just a special skill because we can no longer separate our online and offline lives.
“A large part of our lives is now spent while connected, making digital literacy a life skill that needs to be taught from a young age and continually developed throughout our lives.
“We need to be self-aware and aware of our surroundings whenever we enter unfamiliar online territory, whether it is an online community, multiplayer game, news portal or AI chatbot.
“We should remain curious but cautious, taking time to understand the environment before engaging,” she told Sinar Daily.
Mediha said users should observe interactions, read reviews and check independent sources for warning signs before making purchases through unfamiliar online communities.
Parents and guardians should similarly examine the digital environments their children access, including whether games allow voice or video chats, interaction with strangers, in-game purchases or age-inappropriate content, as well as the parental controls and safety settings available.
She said children should be given particular attention because they lacked the age, experience and exposure that most adults had, despite being able to navigate technology quickly as digital natives.
“I would put children at the top of the list because they do not yet have the age, experience or exposure that most adults have.
“While they are digital natives and may learn to navigate technology quickly, they remain vulnerable to threats through games, apps and messaging platforms, where they can be targeted, manipulated or groomed without adults realising it,” she added.
However, she said keeping children offline was neither realistic nor necessarily helpful, with parents and guardians instead needing to remain involved in their children's digital lives and guide them as they would in the physical world.
Mediha also stressed that digital safety could not follow a one-size-fits-all approach as different groups faced different vulnerabilities.
She said working adults could be particularly exposed to financial scams, impersonation, phishing and sophisticated social engineering, while older Malaysians could be targeted through messages exploiting trust, urgency or fear, including scams impersonating banks, government agencies or family members.
On artificial intelligence (AI) generated content, Mediha said users should place greater emphasis on trust and verification rather than relying solely on techniques for identifying AI-generated material, as such technology was advancing rapidly.
“There are many tips for identifying it, but AI is improving so quickly that a technique that works today may not work in two months. For me, trust and verification are therefore increasingly important.
“If I see a video making a serious claim, I should check the actual website or official account of the news organisation and see whether other credible sources are reporting it before sharing it. If I cannot verify it, I should not help it spread.
“Ordinary Malaysians do not need to become forensic experts in AI, but should instead know when content warranted scrutiny, where it could be verified and when it should not be shared, particularly when it triggered strong emotions such as fear, anger, hatred or sorrow,” she said.
Her call echoes the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), which has said the Kempen Internet Selamat must be made part of society’s culture to ensure digital technology is used wisely, safely, ethically and responsibly.
Advances in technology, including AI, meant the public must be more careful in judging whether content was genuine before sharing or spreading it on digital platforms.
Mediha said digital literacy should be treated as an essential life skill taught and strengthened throughout a person's life, involving the government, industry, schools, parents, guardians, children, teenagers and older Malaysians.
For children, she said digital literacy should begin alongside learning to read, communicate and navigate the world, while teenagers should learn about privacy, relationships, misinformation, online behaviour and their digital footprint.
Adults, meanwhile, need to understand scams, AI, financial safety and how to assess information, with everyone continuing to learn as technology evolves.
“For me, the most sustainable protection we can provide is the judgment, confidence and awareness to navigate whatever comes next,” she said.