What if you never had to worry about the games your children play online?

How do we ensure that the digital experiences children love are designed with their rights, safety and wellbeing in mind from the start?

Gaming is no longer a niche activity. For many children and young people, online games are where they play, learn, create, socialise and express themselves. As these digital spaces become an increasingly important part of childhood, they also become an important part of our responsibility.

Too often, conversations about online safety begin after harm has occurred. But what if we took a different approach?

What if the very design of a programme or game has safety in built right into it. Safety by design means considering children's needs and potential risks during the design and development process itself. This means asking questions early. What data is collected during play? How are social interactions managed? How do spending features operate? Are reporting and support mechanisms easy for children to use? How accessible and inclusive is the experience?

Just as we would not build a playgroundand think about safety later, we should not build digital playgrounds for children and wait for problems to emerge before acting.

A child-rights approach goes beyond protection from harm. It also includes privacy, inclusion, participation, accessibility, and access to information and wellbeing. Children are not only consumers of digital products. They are users, creators and rights holders whose experiences should help shape the digital world around them.

Malaysia's digital creative industry is growing rapidly, creating exciting opportunities for innovation, talent development and economic growth. The opportunity before us is not choosing between growth and children's rights but ensuring that these ambitions advance together.

That is why partnerships and conversations at platforms such as the recent Borneo Animation and Gaming Festival (BAGFest) matter. By bringing together industry, government, young people and child-rights advocates, we can move responsible digital innovation from principle into practice and build a digital ecosystem that children and families can trust.

Because when children's rights are considered from the start, we do not just create safer digital experiences for children. We create better ones for everyone.