Indonesia announces a social media ban for anyone under 16

"Following in the footsteps of Australia, Indonesia will be the latest country to limit social media usage for children under 16. Meutya Hafid, Indonesia's communication and digital affairs minister, announced that a new government regulation will require "high-risk" platforms to delete any accounts from Indonesia that are under 16, starting on March 28."

"Hafid said in the announcement that the implementation would be done in stages, starting with major platforms like YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, Roblox and Bigo Live, a live-streaming platform based in Singapore. The minister added that all platforms will have to fulfill compliance obligations from the Indonesian government, but didn't specify what they were."

"While Australia was the first country to implement such a sweeping ban on social media, many other countries are currently in the process of doing the same. Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced last month that the country is also ready to ban social media for users under 16, while Malaysia's cabinet approved a similar ban that will reportedly go into effect sometime this year."

Indonesia's communication and digital affairs minister announced a new government regulation requiring "high-risk" social media platforms to delete accounts belonging to users under 16, effective March 28. Implementation will occur in stages, beginning with major platforms including YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, Roblox, and Bigo Live. All platforms must comply with Indonesian government obligations, though specific requirements remain unspecified. Meta stated it has not yet received official regulation details. Indonesia joins Australia as countries implementing comprehensive social media bans for minors, with Spain and Malaysia also pursuing similar restrictions.

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