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THE Internet was once celebrated as humanity's greatest gift, a boundless space for connection, knowledge, and opportunity.

Visionaries called it an equaliser, a bridge across borders, a tool that would lift millions out of ignorance and isolation. But that promise has curdled.

Today, the same networks built to unite us are being weaponised with terrifying efficiency, to exploit, to traffic, to prey, and the greatest communication tool ever invented has become the world's most powerful enabler of evil.

Nowhere is this darker truth more apparent than in the findings of Operation Cyber Guardian 2026, and it should serve as a wake-up call for Malaysia.

Sixty-nine arrests, nearly 500,000 files seized, and criminal networks spanning seven countries confirm what authorities have long warned: online child exploitation is no longer the work of isolated, shadowy offenders. 

It is organised, cross-border and operating at a scale that demands an equally organised, borderless response.

What is new and deeply alarming is how generative AI and deepfake technologies are accelerating this threat.

Offenders can now automate conversations that feel personal, age-appropriate, and emotionally responsive, sustaining contact with multiple children at once.

Initial outreach can be mass-produced, while algorithms identify and isolate the most vulnerable. This is not a future risk; it is already in operation.

Deepfakes further lower the barrier to deception. Predators can convincingly impersonate peers, including visual identities that appear authentic.

This matters in a country where Malaysia already ranks among the highest globally for deepfake-related scams against adults. 

If digitally literate adults can be misled at scale, children face far greater exposure.

The more fundamental shift is structural: AI has democratised predation. Technical expertise is no longer a prerequisite. 

Manipulation can now be outsourced to systems designed to optimise engagement, persistence, and emotional influence.

Against this backdrop, Malaysia's planned ban on social media access for users under 16, effective June 2026, reflects a necessary recognition of risk.

The intention is sound, and it aligns with measures introduced in other jurisdictions. 

Nevertheless, platform compliance has historically been uneven, particularly in detecting grooming behaviour and child sexual abuse material, even before AI amplification.

There is also a limitation in scope. Harmful interactions often begin on mainstream platforms but migrate quickly to encrypted channels beyond routine oversight.

A registration ban may reduce initial exposure, but it cannot prevent circumvention through false age declarations, shared devices, or private transfers. 

Once a child moves into encrypted spaces, visibility for intervention is sharply reduced.

Operation Cyber Guardian also shows that these are not fragmented actors but coordinated criminal networks operating across jurisdictions.

Their resilience is partly structural: they exploit differences in legal frameworks, reporting standards, and cross-border enforcement speed. Domestic policy alone cannot dismantle such systems.

The risk, therefore, is not only exposure, but delay, a system that detects harm after it has already occurred.

Prevention must move upstream: stronger cross-platform detection, international intelligence sharing, and real-time intervention capabilities that match the speed and scale of AI-enabled exploitation.

Malaysia has demonstrated through Cyber Guardian that coordinated enforcement is possible. 

The next step is to extend that coordination into prevention. Without it, even well-intentioned policies risk arriving after the harm is done.

Every day of delay widens the gap between the speed of technology and the speed of protection, and children are the ones left to carry that cost.

Prof. Dr Selvakumar Manickam

Universiti Sains Malaysia, Cybersecurity Research Centre director

The views expressed here are the views of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of the Daily Express. If you have something to share, write to us at: Forum@dailyexpress.com.my