THE government 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, 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”.
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 seven to eight hours per day,” said the minister.
She urged parents and children to help the government monitor compliance and report companies that flout the law. — AFP
