WHAT can you do in 19 seconds?
You could probably sing Happy Birthday to someone. You could wash your hands as medically advised. If you’ve been practising, you might be able to solve a Rubik’s cube.
But 19 seconds is also enough time for those with malicious intent to turn a seemingly innocent interaction online with an unknowing young child into an exploitative situation.
“Grooming, whether for abuse, exploitation or for the purposes of engaging people in violent extremism, the same (manipulation) techniques are used.
“And this can happen, we’ve seen it happen in as little as 19 seconds.
“But the average time to go from first contact to a risky conversation can be 45 minutes,” says the WeProtect Global Alliance Executive Director Iain Drennan at the recent Global Cybersecurity Forum (GCF) 2025 held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
As online platforms become more and more integrated in education, socialisation and entertainment, young children continue to face high risks of cyberbullying, exploitation and data privacy breaches.
The Child Protection in Cyberspace (CPC) Index, which was announced at the GCF this year, found that 76% of children aged between 8-18 had experienced at least one cyber risk since 2023.
And the prevalence of risks has hovered around 70 to 80% for the past eight years.
Thus, in a global effort to better protect our children in digital spaces, the CPC Index has set a measurable target to reduce 15% in global child cyber risks within the next five years.
Prevention is better than cure
Some countries are already doing well in certain pillars that contribute to child online protection, according to the CPC Index, with Australia, Singapore, South Korea and the United Kingdom scoring “Exceptional” overall.
Malaysia was also commended for being an “exceptional” leader in having supportive parents in protecting children online.
And in Malaysia, our children face online threats at a lower rate than the global average, at 68%.
“But if you think about this number, that still means that almost seven out of 10 children in Malaysia has experienced at least one cyber risk,” says Dr Park Yuhyun, founder of DQ Institute, which works with international organisations to set global standards for digital intelligence.
These cyber risks are playing out in spaces where children spend the most time online – gaming platforms, social media chats and AI-powered apps.
“In fact, one of the cases I remember where the child was being bullied in a game room, with a threat that ‘we are going to use AI to morph your mother’s photograph into a porn graphic clip and then make it go viral’,” recalls psychotherapist Nirali Bhatia, founder of anti-cyber bullying organisation Cyber Bullying Awareness, Action and Prevention (Cyber BAAP).
“This child ended up paying approximately 16 lakhs in Indian rupees.”
Unlike physical bullying, bullying that occurs online leaves invisible wounds that manifest as altered behaviour and personality changes, making this issue harder to identify and address.
However, experts say prevention is possible, and should be prioritised, through shared responsibility, encouraging digital literacy and baking safety into the designs of online platforms from the start.
“Prevention is always better than the cure, right?
“What’s happened is that we have given children the access, but we’ve not educated them.
“And at an early age, they are in the mindset of learning, so the earlier we begin, the better the chances of turning them into responsible global citizens,” says Nirali.
Children should be heard
Protecting children online has always been a priority for governments all over the world, and the conversations surrounding such policies usually include stakeholders from governments to tech companies to parents.
But what about the children themselves?
After all, who knows what children are facing online better than the children themselves?
“Children are the ones who are actually accessing digital technologies all the time and often, the designing is done without considering them.
“Since they (the children) know best how it works for them, what works for them, I think we should have them right from the design phase but also going forward because technology evolves so quickly and having those conversations with them is important.
“It’s also important for governments and regulators and so on to have them (the children) at the centre of these conversations,” says Unicef Child Protection and Migration director Sheema Sen Gupta.
We are currently in the midst of one of the biggest evolution of digital technology of our age, with the rise of AI and unfortunately, those with sinister intentions have added this new tool to their arsenal.
As digital technologies become more complex, it is crucial to have a framework that links up all the stakeholders, says Saudi Arabia Family Affairs Council secretary-general Maimoonah Al-Khalil.
There are many entities and initiatives already putting massive resources into this issue in terms of scaling and research, she says.
“However, what won’t work is when those models are operating alone and there are independent pockets of infrastructure that are not connected horizontally, which is why we are huge proponents and advocates for a unified framework.
“A framework that gives very clear roles for all the stakeholders, where these stakeholders meet and discuss the KPIs (key performance indicators) and decide in a timely fashion in order to get to them,” Maimoonah adds.
Cross-border cooperation is essential in tackling this problem as this is an international issue, she stresses.
“We are talking at the level of exchanging intelligence and technical information. We are talking about harmonising the way in which criminal and civil legislative frameworks work.
“We are talking about facilitating judicial and law enforcement cooperation and even exchanging digital evidence so that no one has to reinvent the wheel.”
Baking safety into the cake
While governments work to align laws and enforcement across borders, change must also happen closer to home, and one of the best ways to do that is to equip children, parents and teachers with the knowledge to recognise and respond to threats themselves.
“At the top of the list has to be cyber safety or digital literacy and education.
“Educating children about appropriate and inappropriate online etiquette.
“Following that should be guidelines on how to report such cases,” says Nirali.
Maimoonah points out that her country has already pledged with Unicef to inculcate digital literacy among children and parents of cyber threats within the next five years, in line with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030.
“We made it very clear that what we want to do by Vision 2030 is to make sure that children are aware of what the threats are, that parents are also aware of how they can support their children if a threat is faced, and that this is the responsibility of all.”
This is where schools, enforcement agencies, civil societies and the private sector all have a role to play in bolstering protection for children online.
“When it is a goal that is set for all, then upholding that goal becomes everyone’s responsibility and accountability needs to be placed on all,” says Maimoonah.
The private sector, and in particular tech companies, have to play a greater role as real progress cannot happen until they also take responsibility for the protection of children online.
The digital ecosystem can be fortified through a public-private partnership, suggests Maimoonah, as governance alone cannot solve this cross-border issue.
The simplest way is for tech companies to incorporate safety into the designs of their products.
Safety does not have to come at the expense of innovation, if that’s what the private sector is worried about, says Drennan.
“You can have a safe platform that is still incredibly profitable and successful.
“We’ve seen it in the aviation sector, in the automotive sector.
“Safety can be a point of differentiation in the market, and we’ve seen companies already that are starting to do that.
“They are engaging with children – as users, consumers, creators – but they understand they have to create a safe space for them to have the confidence to engage.”
There is some hope, and we must remain optimistic in our fight to create safe spaces online for our children, says Drennan.
“We’re talking about the future of our children, therefore, I think it is incumbent on us as those working in this sector to be focused on the positives.
