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Indonesia summons Meta and Google over non-compliance with child social media curbs

In a video posted on Instagram late Monday, Communication and Digital Affairs Minister Meutya Hafid said "the government is sending summons letters" to Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and Threads, as well as to Google, which oversees YouTube, adding they "violated Indonesian law".

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Jakarta
Tue, March 31, 2026 Published on Mar. 31, 2026 Published on 2026-03-31T12:07:38+07:00

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Child protection: Communications and Digital Minister Meutya Hafid (center), accompanied by Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya (right) and Home Minister Tito Karnavian, speaks to reporters after a meeting at the Communications and Digital Ministry in Jakarta, on Wednesday, March 11, 2026. The meeting discussed the implementation of Government Regulation No. 17/2025 on the electronic system governance for child protection. Child protection: Communications and Digital Minister Meutya Hafid (center), accompanied by Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya (right) and Home Minister Tito Karnavian, speaks to reporters after a meeting at the Communications and Digital Ministry in Jakarta, on Wednesday, March 11, 2026. The meeting discussed the implementation of Government Regulation No. 17/2025 on the electronic system governance for child protection. (Antara/Fakhri Hermansyah)

T

he government has issued summons letters to Google and Meta over their failure to comply with a social media ban for under-16s that entered into force over the weekend, the communications minister said.

In a video posted on Instagram late Monday, Communication and Digital Affairs Minister Meutya Hafid said "the government is sending summons letters" to Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and Threads, as well as to Google, which oversees YouTube, adding they "violated Indonesian law".

The summonses were issued "as part of the application of administrative sanctions in accordance with the applicable provisions", the minister added.

Indonesia began enforcing a social media ban for users under the age of 16 on Saturday, citing threats from online pornography, cyberbullying and internet addiction, as concerns grow globally over the impact of social media on children's well-being.

Australia, which in December became the first country to introduce measures to protect teens from online threats, is investigating Facebook, TikTok and YouTube for possible breaches.

Meutya said over the weekend there would be "no room for compromise regarding compliance".

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In Monday's video, she accused Google and Meta of having opposed the new regulations "from the very beginning".

She named TikTok and Roblox as examples of platforms not yet fully compliant but "making efforts". They will receive warning letters.

"We will focus on working with platforms that have the goodwill to respect Indonesia, not only as a digital market, but also (by) committing to Indonesian laws and legal instruments for child protection," she said.

Indonesia, with its population of over 284 million, boasts among the most social media users in the world, including about 70 million children under the age of 16.

"We understand this is not easy. Indonesia is indeed one of the most active countries in the digital space, with average scrolling time of 7–8 hours per day," said the minister.

She urged parents and children to help the government monitor compliance and report companies that flout the law.

Google and Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday. Both companies said last week they had put in place safeguards for children.

Roblox and TikTok, owned by China's ByteDance, are two other platforms deemed high risk by the ministry.

Meutya said the ministry sent a warning to the two companies to be fully compliant or risk being summoned. TikTok and Roblox did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

 

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