Indonesia starts implementing social media restrictions for children under 16
The restrictions began on Mar 28, making Indonesia the first country in Southeast Asia to ban children from having accounts on YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, Bigo Live and Roblox.
Teenage boys use their mobile phones to browse social media in Jakarta, Indonesia, Mar 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)
JAKARTA: Indonesia on Saturday (Mar 28) began implementing a new government regulation approved earlier this month that bans children younger than 16 from access to digital platforms that could expose them to pornography, cyberbullying, online scams and addiction.
With the move, Indonesia became the first country in Southeast Asia to ban children from having accounts on YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, Bigo Live and Roblox.
It follows measures that Australia took last year in a world-first social media ban for children as part of a push for families to take back power from tech giants and protect their teens.
Indonesia has said that the implementation of the restrictions would be carried out gradually, until all platforms comply with the measure.
In a press briefing on Friday night, Indonesia's Communication and Digital Affairs Minister Meutya Hafid said X has committed to start identifying and deactivating accounts owned by minors from Mar 28, while Roblox has informed the government of its plans to have an offline mode for users under age 13.
“X has announced that it would enforce a minimum user age of 16 in Indonesia. They have published this on their help centre,” said Meutya, as reported by news outlet Jakarta Globe.
Elon Musk’s X, formerly known as Twitter, on its Indonesia Online Safety Information page, gives 16 as the minimum age required for users in the country. “It’s not our choice - it’s what Indonesian law requires,” the page says.
Meutya did not say when Roblox's offline mode for children under 13 would go "live".
“Communications are still ongoing that online access for (Roblox) users under a certain age will be disabled," she reportedly said. “We still ask for (Roblox) to comprehensively comply with the rules.”
Bigo Live has fully complied with the new rules, Meutya said.
TikTok said in a statement late on Friday that it was committed to complying with the regulation including "taking appropriate measures related to under-16 accounts" in close consultation with the ministry, AFP reported.
Meutya did not elaborate on age verification technologies at the briefing, Jakarta Globe reported. She said the government is focusing on enhancing the platforms' compliance for now.
"We reiterate that there is no room for compromise regarding compliance, and that every business entity operating in Indonesia is required to adhere to the laws in force within the country," she said.
Indonesia's social media ban for children under the age of 16 will take effect from Mar 28, making it the first non-Western country to restrict digital access for children. The ban also extends to other digital platforms that the country has classified as "high-risk". According to the communication and digital affairs minister, there are about 82 million children under the legal age of 18 in Indonesia, and approximately 70 million of them are under 16. Chandni Vatvani reports from Jakarta.
In announcing the new regulation earlier in March, Meutya said the rule would apply to around 70 million children in Indonesia — a country with a population of about 280 million.
NOT AN EASY TASK
Meutya said high-risk digital platforms are identified by factors such as how easy it is for children to become exposed to strangers, potential predators and harmful content in general, as well as the levels of risk of exploitation and data security scams.
But she acknowledged that implementing the new regulation — even gradually as planned — will be difficult. Getting digital platforms to comply and then making them report deactivations of under-16 accounts is difficult.
“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.”
Maura Munthe, a 13-year-old who spends roughly four hours a day on her phone on social media, including playing games on Roblox with her friends, said she feels “kind of 50-50” about the new government policy but mostly agrees with it.
Her peers in school, she says, worry they will miss out on all the fun and entertainment they now have access to.
“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.”
Munthe's mother, Leni Sinuraya, 47, said she has for years trusted her daughter to use her phone wisely, both when studying and when playing online games. Still, she sees the government's move as good for all children in Indonesia.
Parents, she says, have lost control — and social media platforms have taken over.
“Nowadays, when we see kids sitting in a restaurant, they have a phone right in front of them. It’s clear that they’re addicted," Sinuraya said. “They won’t eat unless they’re given a phone, and they throw a tantrum if they aren’t.”
"Mealtime is supposed to be a time for us to chat with the people around us,” she added.
PROTECTING THE CHILDREN
Based in Jakarta, Indonesia's capital, Diena Haryana founded Semai Jiwa Amini foundation — also known as SEJIWA, a nonprofit that works on online child safety and protection.
According to Haryana, studies have shown that children’s use of social media can impact their mental health and trigger anxiety and depression.
But, she says, digital platforms also offer advantages and open up a whole realm of learning. Her foundation has tried to get parents and communities to work together on providing guidance and supervision for children in the online world.
“We also need to remember that they need to learn to use this digital technology at the right time, at the right age, and with the right guidance as well,” she said.
Haryana said the effects of restricting access to social media and digital platforms to children under 16 will only be seen once the measure is in place — she predicted both complaints from children and confusion among parents.
Parents and schools are expected to provide children with solutions on how to learn in the real world — not the digital one, she said.
“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," Haryana added. "And there’s plenty in the real world for children to explore.”
So far, few platforms have reacted to Indonesia's new regulation.
Besides X, Google-owned YouTube said it supports the Indonesian government's effort to create an effective, risk-based framework that addresses online harms while preserving access to information and digital opportunity.
“We are ready to engage under the regulation’s self-assessment approach to demonstrate our long-standing safety rigour,” it said.
Restrictions on social media access for children under 16 first began in December in Australia, where social media companies revoked access to about 4.7 million accounts identified as belonging to children.
Some other countries — including Spain, France and the United Kingdom — are also taking or considering measures to restrict children's access to social media amid growing concern that they are being harmed by exposure to unregulated social media content.
