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Keeping children safe virtually

T HE act of parents sharing their parenting journeys, or “sharenting”, such as including their children’s photo and data online, has become common as the 21st century’s parents’ lives are mostly grounded in technology. While there are benefits to sharing parenting journeys online, such as building supportive communities, documenting memories and exchanging advice, it also comes with clear and growing risks. The latest Kaspersky and Singapore Institute of Technology research Small Shares, Big Risks: How Parents Assess Threats and Cope with Sharing of Children’s Data explored the motivational drivers that influence parents’ proactive approach to protecting their children’s privacy on social media. It attempts to understand how parents appraise the risks associated with documenting their children’s lives online, how confident they are in their own ability and the effectiveness of strategic measures to safeguard their privacy. Co-written by Trishia Octaviano and Associate Professor Jiow Hee Jhee, the study is based on 152 online responses from nine countries and territories, including Malaysia. Its key findings reveal parents’ confidence, experience and instincts are emerging as key drivers of how effectively they protect their children’s online privacy. Confidence while ‘sharenting’ At the core of these findings is “coping appraisal”, how parents evaluate their ability to respond to online threats. The study identifies perceived self-efficacy or parents’ confidence in their ability to manage digital risks, as the strongest predictor of protective action. This includes their ability to control privacy settings, limit data exposure and manage what third parties can learn about their children online. Encouragingly, a large majority of parents are ready to adopt proactive steps to safeguard their children’s privacy. More than four in every five GOOGLE and YouTube have introduced Bijak Digital Bersama Google dan YouTube , an initiative aimed at equipping Malaysian families with the knowledge, tools and confidence to navigate the digital world safely. Through hands-on experiences and expert-led discussions, the programme empowers families to foster healthier, more resilient relationships with technology. A YouGov survey by Google on artificial intelligence (AI) safety perceptions and habits found a growing “resilience gap” among Malaysian families. While 67% of parents feel confident guiding their children on AI, many struggle to translate that confidence into consistent and effective online safety practices. The survey also highlighted several key challenges faced by Malaysian parents: 0 Three in five parents (56.8%) cite online safety and privacy as their top concern, yet fewer than two in five (38.9%) feel confident protecting their child’s personal data online. 0 More than half of parents (54.5%) are concerned about content exposure, while 86.1% believe their children are at risk of encountering misinformation or harmful content. 0 Three in five parents (52.7%) struggle

o Survey: 80% of guardians confident with protecting kids online despite risks parents surveyed believe they can avoid displaying identifiable information such as birthdates, schools or addresses (85%), avoid sharing potentially embarrassing images of their children (85%), limit access to shared content to family and close friends (84%) and refrain from posting identifiable personal details (83%). Most parents also believe in their ability to take extra steps to control how their children’s photos and information spread online with 80% removing resharing permissions and some 78% disabling metadata and geotagging features. These findings mean a majority of parents feel confident and capable in not just controlling who sees their content but also how far it can spread and what hidden information it reveals. Parents are also self-assured about their ability to adopt intentional and child-centric practices with 84% saying they can engage family members and close friends in discussions on protecting children’s privacy and 82% agreeing they have the ability to ask for their children’s permission before posting content about them. The study further finds perceived response efficacy, the parents’ belief these measures are effective, is the second strongest predictor of safe content-sharing behaviour. When parents trust their actions make a difference, they are more likely to follow through consistently. Age and gender roles Beyond confidence, age and gender

Mothers are found to be more protective of their children in online spaces. – 123RFPIC

demonstrate stronger intentions to protect their children’s privacy due to their better coping appraisal perception. They are more likely to believe in the effectiveness of privacy measures and feel confident in their ability to act safely on social media. These findings suggest maternal protective instincts extend into the digital space, resulting in more cautious and deliberate sharing behaviours. Digital privacy checklist To help parents build their kids’ and their family’s safety online, here is a quick checklist of how to manage digital privacy for your family’s safety: 0 Delete old accounts that you no longer use.

also play a critical role in shaping parents’ behaviour in the digital realm. According to the survey, as parents grow older, they perceive fewer barriers to adopting privacy protection measures. The “response cost”, or the perceived effort required to manage privacy settings or use more secure platforms, declines with age. This indicates parents become more comfortable in navigating digital environments and are more willing to take action as they age. Learning comes through experience, even in the online world. At the same time, gender differences reveal mothers tend to lean into safer digital practices more. The research shows mothers

0 Set your accounts to private if you do not intend for your profile to be public. 0 Take time to navigate the privacy settings on your social media accounts and check them regularly as they tend to change. 0 Review your network of contacts, past activities and profile visibility. 0 Before disclosing any information online, think about whether it could be used against you. 0 Be mindful about disclosing geolocation in posts and remove metadata from photo files. 0 Consider taking down posts that expose your child’s frequent and significant locations, such as school, sports club. 0 Actively monitor your child’s online activities.

Google, YouTube help Malaysian parents navigate AI, online security

and digital routines. With tools such as Family Link, parents can establish ground rules within the family such as customising time limits toapps, managing the websites they visit and apps they download. Features also help minimise distractions when children need to focus. On YouTube, Parents can enable digital wellbeing reminders such as Bedtime and Take a Break to control the time spent on the platform. Parents also have the ability to set the amount of time their kids spend scrolling Shorts, including to zero, helping young users pause, reflect and reduce excessive scrolling habits. 0 Ensuring digital literacy as a family Through initiatives such as Be Internet Awesome, parents and children are equipped with practical skills to navigate the online world more responsibly, from identifying misinformation to developing safer online habits. Across their platforms, Google and YouTube continue to strengthen safeguards for younger users through age-appropriate experiences, enhanced content protections and tools that help users better understand and verify what they see online. These efforts ensure children and teens can explore, learn and grow online in a way that is safe and empowering.

with managing screen time, but only one in five (21%) use remote locking features to manage device usage. These challenges often lead to a reliance on “active monitoring”(54%), which can be exhausting for parents and create friction with teens who value their digital independence. Helping families learn better, stay safer online To support this shift from monitoring to mentorship, Google and YouTube have introduced a range of built-in tools and resources designed to help families learn better through AI, while also fostering safer and healthier digital habits. Google is also building age appropriate experiences for its younger users and developing tools that put parents in the driver’s seat to shape their families’ digital experience with tailored products and features. These include: 0 Content guardrails for the age-appropriate experiences for children. Features such as SafeSearch help filter explicit content across websites and search results, while YouTube Kids and supervised experiences on YouTube provide age-appropriate viewing environments based on a child’s maturity level. 0 Helping families manage screen time

Tools such as Family Link help with screen time management.