Children gather around a smartphone in Cambodia, highlighting the growing role of digital technology and concerns over online safety. Photo: UNICEF Cambodia, 2020, Miguel Jeronimo
PHNOM PENH – Cambodia is considering the most effective ways to shield children from increasing online dangers.
Officials and digital-security specialists say it is more effective to adopt measures such as age verification, safer platform design and enhanced digital literacy, rather than relying solely on strict age restrictions.
Tan Sodany, director of the ICT Policy Department at the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications, said Cambodia understands the risks involving children but currently has no mechanism for age restrictions.
However, she said there had been a recent multi-stakeholder meeting which recommended studying children’s social media use and the country’s circumstances before developing a policy.
“Overall, it would be the challenge for tech companies in effectively verifying the user’s age,” Sodany said, adding that enforcement could also be difficult if children found ways to bypass restrictions.
Responsibility should not rest solely with technology companies but platforms should maintain dialogue with governments and develop appropriate safety systems.
Parents, schools, civil society groups working on children’s wellbeing and other stakeholders can help children build digital literacy and critical-thinking skills, she said.
Digital security consultant Chy Sophat said efforts to ensure accurate age verification was an important step to protect children, who now face risks including deception, grooming, fraud, sexual exploitation and harmful content.
Platforms should protect users’ privacy during age verification and securely manage age-related data in line with child-protection laws.
“Once a platform knows a child’s age, it must actively protect them,” Sophat said, calling for safeguards at the platform-wide and child-specific levels.
Cambodia could consider requiring platforms operating in the country to adopt age restrictions alongside other safety measures. He said a domestic policy could encourage companies to strengthen protections for children.
Thy Try, executive director and editor-in-chief of Open Development Cambodia, acknowledged that many children are increasingly vulnerable to risks such as online scams, cyberbullying, sexual exploitation, harmful content, privacy violations and AI-generated manipulation such as deepfakes.
While the access for children to these platforms is expanding more quickly than their knowledge on how to use it, more specific support needs to be provided to minimize risks.
He said parental awareness, reporting systems and legal protections were important, with the gap particularly concerning for children in rural and marginalized communities.
When asked about age restrictions, Try said such measure alone won’t be sufficient. What should be done is to ensure child-friendly privacy settings, age-appropriate content, stronger moderation, accessible reporting tools and limits on harmful algorithms and targeted advertising.
A 2025 UNICEF report on children’s digital lives indicates that digital technology can provide important benefits but also expose children to risks, depending on how they use digital services and the content and experiences they encounter.
It calls for a balanced approach that allows children to develop digital skills and explore online while protecting them from harm.
To deal with these risks, countries have taken different approaches. Australia has introduced legislation restricting social media access for children below a specified age, while the European Union’s Digital Services Act places greater emphasis on platform responsibilities and protections for minors.
These approaches raise a policy question for Cambodia: whether age-based restrictions, safer platform design or a combination of measures would provide the most practical protection for children.
The issue will be discussed at Cambodia ICT Camp 2026, organized by Open Development Cambodia on Sept. 19 and 20 in Siem Reap.
A panel titled “Age restriction or a safer digital media platform for children in Cambodia?” is scheduled for Sept. 20 and will bring together representatives from government, UNICEF, and the technology and digital-security sectors.
The discussion is expected to examine the effectiveness and limitations of age restrictions, platform responsibilities, and measures Cambodia could adopt to make the digital environment safer for children.
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