TOKYO: Two digital platforms have fully complied with the government’s restrictions on social media use for children under 16, which came into effect on Saturday, with the Communications and Digital Ministry warning on taking firm action against companies failing to meet the policy.
A communications and digital ministerial regulation serving as the technical guideline for the Child Protection in Digital Space Regulation (PP Tunas) took effect on Saturday (March 29).
The policies aim to protect minors from pornography, exploitation and other harms by banning access to digital platforms categorized as posing “high risk” to children’s wellbeing. The regulation listed eight platforms for the first phase, namely YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, TikTok, X, Roblox and Bigo Live.
They are required to self-assess their risk against users younger than 16. As of Friday evening, however, only Bigo Live and X have “fully complied” by setting minimum user ages to 16 and 18, respectively, as announced by Communications and Digital Minister Meutya Hafid.
“The compliance list is dynamic, and we will continue monitoring it until [Saturday],” the minister said during a press briefing on Friday.
“For now, we need to acknowledge the platforms that have been fully cooperative.” She added Bigo Live has also implemented layered moderation to verify and deactivate underage accounts. But the live streaming platform’s user agreement, last updated in 2024, already set the minimum user age at 18.
Meanwhile, X stated starting Saturday, only users over 16 are allowed to hold accounts in Indonesia, up from its general minimum age requirement of 13. Meutya added that Roblox and TikTok had shown “partial cooperation”.
According to her, Roblox had submitted plans for under-13 users to be able to play the sandbox platform offline, while TikTok was committed to gradually deactivating under-16 users’ accounts. Roblox representative in Indonesia, Reyner Evan Yokohadinata, previously said the platform would introduce additional controls for content and communication features for all players under 16 in Indonesia.
As part of its global campaign in January, Roblox has required facial age verification for its chat feature, which limits interactions only to users of the same age group.
Meanwhile, its voice chat feature can only be used by users aged 13 or older who have passed the age verification. TikTok announced on Friday that it will “take measures” against accounts owned by people younger than 16 following a self-assessment process.
The company added it had enhanced protection for teens by removing violating content and accounts, while providing more than 50 preset safety, privacy and security default settings.
No compromise Minister Meutya urged all platforms, particularly the remaining four listed ones, to immediately align their services with the regulations.
“We assert there is no compromise on compliance, and every business entity operating in Indonesia is required to follow the laws,” she said.
She added platforms that fail to comply will face administrative sanctions, such as warnings, fines, suspension and access termination, as mandated by PP Tunas. Meta’s head of public policy in Indonesia and the Philippines, Berni Moestafa, asserted the company’s commitment in protecting teens through the rollout of Teen Account feature for Instagram and Facebook in Indonesia.
The features, which allows parents to control who their children interact with and what content they see, include “built-in protections to address parents’ top concerns,” Berni said on Friday.
Google, the owner of YouTube, voiced opposition to the blanket ban, arguing the platform already provides parental supervision tools, including screen time controls, age verification and content restrictions.
“Blanket restrictions for users under 16 would mean young people accessing YouTube will lose these protections, parental controls and safety features,” a spokesperson of the platform said on Friday, urging the government to also help develop an effective risk-based framework to address online harms. Meta and Google said they will coordinate with the communications ministry to conduct the risk assessment.
In Australia, where a similar ban has come into effect since December 2025, Meta and YouTube have barred under-16 Australians from holding accounts.
Acknowledging different compliance across countries, Meutya called on companies to uphold universality and non-discrimination principles. “Children are equally valuable,” Meutya said.
“Indonesian children are no less deserving than children in Australia.” Also on Friday, Meutya was summoned by Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya to report on PP Tunas’ implementation and platforms’ compliance. - The Jakarta Post/ANN
