Major Social Platforms Push Back on Indonesia’s Youth Social Media Ban

TikTok and YouTube are negotiating with Indonesian officials over new rules that would ban children under 16 from using social media platforms starting March 28. The regulation targets several major platforms including Instagram and Roblox as "high risk" for young users.

JAKARTA – Major social media companies are working with Indonesian officials to address upcoming restrictions that would prohibit children under 16 from accessing their platforms, representatives confirmed Monday.

The Southeast Asian nation plans to shut down “high risk” social media accounts belonging to minors beginning March 28, according to new ministerial guidelines released this week.

Indonesia’s Communications and Digital Ministry identified several popular platforms as potentially dangerous for young users, including TikTok (owned by China’s ByteDance), Google’s YouTube, Instagram, and gaming platform Roblox.

A YouTube representative stated the company is examining the new rules to make sure they support parental control while maintaining educational opportunities for millions of Indonesian users. “We will continue to engage constructively with the government and remain committed to protecting youth in the digital world, not from it,” the spokesperson explained.

TikTok officials said they are “engaging with the ministry to better understand the provisions” outlined in the regulation. The company noted that teenage user accounts include more than 50 built-in safety, privacy, and security protections.

Communications and Digital Minister Meutya Hafid announced the account deactivations will begin on March 28.

Meta, which operates Instagram and Facebook, responded to the proposed restrictions on Friday before the official regulation was published. The company warned that “governments considering bans should be careful not to push teens toward less safe, unregulated sites, or logged out experiences that bypass important protections.” Meta emphasized that both Instagram and Facebook Teen Accounts include automatic safety measures.

Indonesia joins several other nations, including Australia, that have implemented restrictions on children’s social media use due to growing worries about safety risks and mental health impacts on young users.