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Social media age restrictions coming to Indonesia

Age-restricted social media access legislation push in Indonesia (Image source: Generated using DALL·E 3)
Indonesia plans similar measures to Australia (Image source: Generated using DALL·E 3)
Social media age restrictions are coming to Indonesia as soon as possible, according to the country's officials. This temporary measure aims to protect children while the government is working on a law to set a minimum age for using such platforms, similar to Australia's recent under-16 social media ban.

Last year, Australia proposed a ban on social media for children under 16 and passed the law in just a few months. Key players in the social media landscape, like Meta, are currently testing methods to enforce these regulations. In the meantime, Indonesia is taking similar steps for its children, although it will take a few months for the law to pass. However, a senior communications ministry official has revealed that they will soon impose interim child protection guidelines.

This Monday, Indonesia's President Prabowo Subianto had a discussion regarding this topic with the country's communications minister, Meutya Hafid. The latter said that a minimum age for social media users will be set soon. However, he did not specify the exact minimum age involved. Senior official Alexander Sabar, who spoke to Reuters, said,

"What the minister means is that the government is headed for the direction of a stronger regulation on age limit, which is through the formation of a law."

As it happened in Australia, the details regarding the measures to be taken by the Indonesian authorities remain shrouded in mystery for the time being.

Indonesian authorities will move to protect children "from physical, mental, or moral perils" lurking on social media, but without limiting access completely. According to a recent survey, about 50% of children under 12 in Indonesia are currently using Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok.

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Codrut Nistor, 2025-01-16 (Update: 2025-01-17)