The Public Health Malaysia Facebook Page issued a warning last night, telling parents to be careful if their children are using certain apps which includes PUBG, Mobile Legends and Fortnite.

“Don’t expect children who stay at home SAFE if they have access to such apps. Predators have now changed their operational mode to find their victims easily through social apps”, the post reads.

Of course the Public Health Malaysia page didn’t just target Mobile Legends. The post also calls out social media apps like Tumblr and TikTok, as well as multiple dating apps such as Grindr, OkCupid and Tinder.

It also urged parents to take better notice of what their children are up to online-

• Set the rules on how and when children can communicate online
• Establish quality time with children to go online together
•  Talking to child about safety and current issues
• Hearing what their concerns and questions are
• Tell them examples of unsafe conversations and threats
• Teach children to identify predators
• Make sure your child trusts you and recognizes you as a protector, not a punisher

Considering a lot of people are still reacting to China’s “Spiritual Opium” measures against gaming, it’s refreshing to see that there were actually valid concerns in the post- dating apps in particular don’t even allow minors to take use them, but can easily be bypassed with a Facebook account set to a fake age.

That being said, “watch out for Sexual predators”, while always great advice, is hard to compile a list against. Technically any app with a messaging system could lead to a pedophile, so singling out TikTok, and not say, Facebook (where the post was made) is a bizarre choice.

Even more bizarrely, the post goes so far to categorize TikTok and Discord as games, so just in case you had no idea the type of generational gap going on, you should be clued in by now.

The comments to the post were mostly positive, surprisingly short on any kind of mockery. Followers of the page shared their own experiences (or lack thereof) with the various apps, with a general “won’t somebody think of the children” air to it.

Some defended TikTok though, saying that teachers had started using the app to better teach their students, who have been remote learning.

The Tendency To Blame Games (Editorial)

Blaming games is a common tactic among older communities, who often see the increased online freedom as dangerous to youths. We’re seeing it now in China, with almost cartoonishly strict rules meant to protect children from the horrors of Default Dancing in Fortnite.

While the core message of Public Health Malaysia seems to be good (anyone who reads these editorials would know my stance on parents taking more responsibility for their kids), suddenly singling out popular games as threats to their children does feel pearl-clutching in nature.

That being said I do think dating apps are fair game to be called out- these are apps specifically designed for communication between strangers, and while by design they’re not supposed to allow minors the inherent stupidity of being 16 is bound to lead to children trying to get on the platform regardless.