Meutya acknowledged that the implementation of the regulation will be a major challenge and cause initial inconvenience, with tens of millions of children who are active internet users.
“Children may complain and parents may feel confused about how to handle those complaints,” the minister said, calling the regulation as the “best step” the government could take in what she described as a “digital emergency”.
“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.”
In an earlier statement on Thursday before the ban was announced, Meutya said that excessive use of digital platforms could affect children’s mental health and development, adding that the main target of the regulation is technology companies, not children or parents.
Sanctions will be imposed on platforms that fail to fulfil their child protection obligations, she warned.
‘DIFFICULT TO ENFORCE’
Bimantoro Kushari Pramono from Universitas Indonesia told CNA that age-based restrictions are difficult to fully enforce, as most social media platforms rely on self-declared age systems.
“Users are simply asked to enter their date of birth when creating an account. Technically, anyone can claim to be older than they actually are,” he said.
However, the lecturer in human-computer interaction added that the regulation serves as a strong regulatory signal that the Indonesian government is “beginning to demand greater responsibility” from digital platforms for the social impacts of their products.
“In the long-term, policies like this could encourage platforms to develop more robust-age verification mechanisms, stronger child-protection systems or safer platform designs for younger users,” said Bimantoro.
“This policy is not merely about restricting children’s access, but also part of a broader negotiation of power between the state and global digital platforms in governing the digital space.”
On Thursday, Indonesia’s communications ministry said that it had issued a “stern warning to Meta for failing to curb the spread of online gambling and disinformation.
The warning came after Meutya on Wednesday made an unscheduled visit to Meta’s operational office in Jakarta.
Meta was warned over its low level of compliance with Indonesia’s regulation regarding the spread of content that involved disinformation, online gambling, defamation and hate speech across its platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, the ministry said.
Meta had taken action over only 28.47 per cent of flagged content related to online gambling and disinformation, the ministry said then.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/indonesia-social-media-ban-under-16-children-5976561
