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View all search resultsIndonesia to start banning social media for children under 16 this month
The social media ban for children under 16 will take effect on March 28, but details about the ban remain scarce.
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Children huddle together on April 2, 2024, as they play with a mobile device ahead of the breaking of the fast during Ramadan in Banda Aceh, Aceh. (AFP/Chaideer Mahyuddin)
T
he government has announced that it will ban social media and other online platforms for children under 16 starting later this month, a move widely lauded as a way to prevent online abuse, but which will still require stringent oversight to ensure compliance.
Communications and Digital Minister Meutya Hafid said on Friday that starting from March 28, children under 16 would no longer be able to have accounts on “high risk” platforms, describing the decision as “necessary amid the digital emergency” facing the country.
“The decision comes as our children face increasingly real threats, from exposure to pornograpy, cyberbullying, online fraud and most alarmingly, addiction,” Meutya said.
The ban is set to enact gradually, with the minister naming eight platforms for the restriction, namely online video giant YouTube, tech giant Meta’s Facebook, Instagram and Threads, social network X, Chinese-owned video sharing app TikTok, livestreaming app Bigo Live and gaming platform Roblox.
Meutya formally introduced the initiative through a ministerial regulation she signed on the same day, which set a technical guideline for the Child Protection in Digital Space Regulation (PP Tunas) enacted last year. The draft of the new regulation has yet to be made available to the public, as of Sunday.
Responding to the announcement, the child protection agency, civil groups and lawmakers voiced their support for the restrictions amid concerns over the alarming impacts of social media on children.
Last year, for instance, the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK) reported at least 80,000 children under 10 years old were exposed to online gambling.
