Indonesia to ban social media access for under-16s

The official Meta corporate logo features prominently at the Mobile World Congress 2026 in Barcelona, Spain. [AFP]

Indonesia said Friday it would ban social media access for children under 16, citing threats from online pornography, cyberbullying, online fraud, and internet addiction.

"Accounts belonging to children under 16 on high-risk platforms will start to be deactivated, beginning with YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, Bigo Live, and Roblox," Communications Minister Meutya Hafid said in a statement.

"The government is stepping in so that parents no longer have to fight alone against the giants of the algorithm. Implementation will begin on March 28, 2026," she added.

The ban will be introduced in stages "until all platforms fulfil their compliance obligations."

TikTok Indonesia and Google Indonesia did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

A European Union expert group began work this week on a similar social media ban for children after Australia in December required TikTok, YouTube, Snapchat, and other sites to remove accounts held by under-16s.

Brussels is keeping a close eye on how successful the Australian ban proves to be, with legal challenges already filed against it.

France, along with Denmark, Greece, and Spain, has been pushing for similar action at EU level, and India has been considering a teen social media ban of its own.

Meutya said the government understood the new regulation "may cause some initial inconvenience" for users in Indonesia, but "we believe that this is the best step the Government must take in the midst of a digital emergency."

She added: "We are taking this step to reclaim the sovereignty of our children’s future. We want technology to humanise humans, not sacrifice our children’s childhood."