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Indonesia announces it will ban social media and other popular online platforms for children under the age of 16 to protect them from online abuse. Communications and Digital Affairs Minister Meutya Hafid announced that accounts for minors on "high risk" platforms will be deactivated starting March 28. This move makes Indonesia the latest country to implement strict age-based digital restrictions.
"Our children are facing increasingly real threats—ranging from exposure to pornography, cyberbullying, and online scams, to addiction, which is the most significant concern," said Hafid.
"This will start with platforms such as YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, Bigo Live, and Roblox," said Hafid, adding that the ban would make Indonesia "the first non-Western country to delay children's access to digital spaces according to age".
"The government is stepping in so that parents no longer have to fight alone against the giants of algorithm-driven platforms."
Children's charity Unicef reported in 2023 that roughly half of the 510 Indonesian children it surveyed had been exposed to sexual images on social media.
Indonesia's child protection agency, meanwhile, said it could not comment on the government's plans until it had studied them.
The announcement comes after Australia became the first country to start forcing social media firms to block users under 16 from having accounts on their platforms in December - a policy being closely watched by other world governments.
Critics have called on the Australian government to extend the ban to cover online gaming sites like Roblox and Discord, which are not currently included.
There have also been concerns that age assurance technologies would wrongly block adults while failing to spot underage users.
Spain is among other countries that have said they will follow Australia's lead.
Earlier this week, the UK launched a public consultation on whether to introduce a similar ban, inviting young people and their parents and guardians to submit comments ahead of a government decision on the proposal.
Indonesia has previously taken steps to prevent access to sexually explicit material online, including blocking access to the artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot Grok.
