Press Statement
Random police checks of students phones is illegal, unconstitutional & does not resolve incidents of school violence
25 October 2025
We refer to news reports stating that police have begun conducting spot checks at schools, including checking students’ smartphones to check for pornographic or ‘prohibited’ material.
This move follows from the cabinet and the Home Ministry decision to increase police presence in schools.
A carte blanche directive to the police which allows them to check any person’s phone in the absence of an ongoing investigation or suspected offence is dangerous, illegal and unconstitutional. It is a slippery slope into authoritarianism. It is highly alarming that the cabinet and Home Ministry has issued this directive, which essentially substitutes the usual school administrative methods with a police regime.
That this directive is directed towards only school children does not make it acceptable or legal. Children, like all persons in Malaysia, have a right to legal protection from oppressive policing under Article 5(1) of the Federal Constitution. This cannot be restricted unless allowed so by valid law.
Police officers checking phones of school children as a “preventative measure” runs contrary to the Criminal Procedure Code. For a search to be conducted, there must be an ongoing investigation to begin with, the absence of which means that the police have no power to search an individual, whether child or adult. In other words, the police cannot look through phones for ‘random spot checks’; that would be illegal. The directive by the cabinet and Home Ministry is a violation of Article 5(1) of the Federal Constitution and the safeguards under the Criminal Procedure Code against arbitrary police searches.
The logic behind this protection under the Constitution is clear; it is to avoid abuse of power allowing authorities to simply conduct any search without reasonable basis. Such uninhibited power can render enforcement authorities as a tool of intimidation by the State. It would lead to the serious erosion of civil liberties, placing members of the public including children at the mercy of the authorities and the government. That is why the Federal Constitution provides for due process, and which cannot be denied even under the guise of curbing juvenile crime.
Saifuddin Nasution is well aware of this as he himself stated in January that cops cannot randomly check people’s mobile phones. Why then would his Ministry issue or endorse this directive?
We also ask the government to explain why such an extreme and illegal directive was issued. This hasty move shows a lack of proper deliberation, from the aspects of legality, practicality and effectiveness. Do they intend to routinely deploy police at every school in Malaysia to conduct phone checks? What of spontaneous acts of violence? Will the police be stationed in every classroom at all hours to prevent such occurrence in schools? What if the violence is conducted outside of school grounds?
It is clear that little thought has gone to actually addressing the root cause of the recent incidents of violence against girls in the school environment. The government have instead resorted to simplistic security theatre and violated the Federal Constitution and the law in the process. They seem to only care about the appearance of doing something effective.
A more holistic plan of action must be taken that includes educating young children on consent, respecting rights and dismantling the misogynistic narratives and structures that incite violence against women and girls.
Issued by,
Zaid Malek
Director
Lawyers For Liberty