KUALA LUMPUR, Sept. 6 (Xinhua) -- A survey by global polling research firm Ipsos has found that 71 percent of Malaysians are in favor of restricting social media access for children under the age of 14.
The "Education Monitor" poll covering Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore said Malaysia is the second highest after Indonesia to share this sentiment, Ipsos said in a statement on Thursday.
"Malaysians are most wary of children's access to social media, while they are divided on smartphones and AI usage in schools," it said.
The survey also found that 51 percent of Malaysians agreed that those under 14 should be banned from using smartphones both during and after school, while 29 percent agreed they should also be banned from using AI language model ChatGPT.
Meanwhile, the survey found that 56 percent of Malaysians believed that teachers and schools should shoulder the responsibility of teaching digital literacy and online safety, while 39 percent agreed the responsibility should fall on the parents. ■