Indonesia on Saturday began enforcing a government regulation approved earlier this month that bars children under 16 from accessing digital platforms that could expose them to pornography, cyberbullying, scams and addiction.
The move makes Indonesia the first country in Southeast Asia to prohibit under-16s from holding accounts on sites including YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, Bigo Live and Roblox. It follows Australia’s world-first social media restrictions for children introduced last year as part of efforts to give families more control and shield teens from online harms.
Officials say the restrictions will be rolled out gradually until all platforms comply. Communication and Digital Affairs Minister Meutya Hafid said the rule affects roughly 70 million children in Indonesia, a nation of about 280 million people. High-risk platforms were identified based on how easily children can encounter strangers, potential predators, harmful content, exploitation risks and data security threats, she said.
Hafid acknowledged the challenges ahead, noting it will be hard to get platforms to cooperate and to require them to report deactivations of under-16 accounts. “This is certainly a task. But we must take steps to save our children,” she said. “It’s not easy. Nevertheless, we must see it through.”
Some children and parents expressed mixed feelings. Thirteen-year-old Maura Munthe, who spends about four hours daily on her phone using social media and playing Roblox with friends, said she’s “kind of 50-50” about the policy but largely agrees with it. Her classmates worry they will lose access to entertainment and social time online. “There are always other games on my phone, not only the online ones,” she said. “I will likely play more games alone or just hang out with my friends.”
Maura’s mother, Leni Sinuraya, 47, said she has trusted her daughter to use her phone responsibly but views the government action as beneficial for all children. “Parents have lost control — and social media platforms have taken over,” she said, describing scenes of children at restaurants glued to phones, refusing to eat without them. “Mealtime is supposed to be a time for us to chat with the people around us.”
Diena Haryana, founder of SEJIWA, a Jakarta-based nonprofit focused on online child safety, said research links social media use to mental health problems such as anxiety and depression, though platforms also provide educational benefits. Her foundation urges parents and communities to guide and supervise children online and to teach digital skills at appropriate ages. Haryana predicted the restriction will lead to complaints from children and confusion for parents and said schools and families must help children find real-world learning and enjoyable activities. “Of course, this takes time to get used to, which is why parents and schools need to encourage children to engage with the real world and make it fun for them,” she said. “And there’s plenty in the real world for children to explore.”
So far, few platforms have publicly reacted. X’s Indonesia online safety page lists 16 as the minimum age in the country, adding, “It’s not our choice — it’s what Indonesian law requires.” Google-owned YouTube said it supports the government’s effort to create a risk-based framework addressing online harms while preserving access to information and opportunity, and that it is ready to engage under the regulation’s self-assessment approach to demonstrate its safety measures.
Australia began restricting social media access for children under 16 in December, when companies disabled about 4.7 million accounts identified as belonging to children. Other countries, including Spain, France and the United Kingdom, are also taking or considering steps to limit children’s access to social media amid concerns about harm from unregulated content.
