70% Public Sentiment Positive, Child Access Restrictions Deemed Urgent
The government prioritises maintaining the quality of education.
The policy of restricting digital access for children under 16 is deemed increasingly urgent to implement, in line with strong public support for the measure. This is reflected in public conversation data monitored via Drone Emprit.
Drone Emprit founder and information technology expert Ismail Fahmi revealed that, based on an analysis of 5,000 conversations on social media and online media from 2–9 March 2026, there is a dominance of positive sentiment towards the policy. Of the total conversations, 70% were positive, 18% neutral, and only 12% negative.
Some 3,388 conversations came from online media and 1,612 from social media. The issue has gained strength with the introduction of the policy restricting access for children under 16 through Ministerial Regulation on Digital Infrastructure and Communications Number 9 of 2026.
“Positive sentiment towards this policy reaches 70%, indicating that society itself feels this regulation is urgent,” said Ismail to Media Indonesia on Thursday (26/3).
He also explained that data from the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) further reinforces the urgency of this policy. Around 50% of Indonesian children active on the internet have been exposed to sexual content, 42% feel uncomfortable in the online world, and the government has recorded around 1.45 million cases of online child exploitation. According to Ismail, this policy is not an effort to hinder the digital economy.
“On the contrary, a digital ecosystem that is safe for children is a prerequisite for the digital economy to grow sustainably,” he emphasised.
He then explained that the establishment of the age limit of 16 for social media use is based on three main considerations. First, the neuroscience aspect, where the prefrontal cortex, which plays a role in decision-making and impulse control, is not yet mature in adolescents under that age, making them more vulnerable to the addictive designs of digital platforms.
Second, data protection. The age of 16 is said to be the threshold in various international regulations, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in Europe, for processing children’s data without parental consent.
Third, global trends. Ismail mentioned that Australia has already implemented a similar policy, and even French President Emmanuel Macron has openly welcomed Indonesia’s step.
“Thus, Indonesia is considered to exceed the old standard that sets the age limit at 13, as regulated in the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) of 1998 in the United States.
“Clearly, the PP Tunas regulation is the right step given the far greater risks in the current algorithm era compared to the early internet era,” said Ismail.
Regarding the supervision mechanism, Ismail believes there are still many misunderstandings in society. Age verification is not simply checking an ID card or date of birth. Based on his research and confirmation from a representative of TikTok Indonesia, major digital platforms are actually capable of detecting user ages through behavioural signals, such as patterns of consumed content, language in comments, access times, and social interactions on the platform.
TikTok, for example, uses artificial intelligence technology to scan videos, while Instagram has an adult classifier system that analyses friendship networks and cross-platform interactions. YouTube also relies on viewing history to identify user profiles.
However, the biggest challenge does not lie in technical capabilities, but in the willingness of platforms to comply and the accuracy of systems in the local context. The natural language processing (NLP) models used need to be adapted to the Indonesian language and various local dialects.
“This is homework that Komdigi must negotiate concretely with the platforms,” emphasised Ismail.
Ismail also highlighted an aspect that is often overlooked, namely alternatives for children. PP Tunas does limit access, but it has not fully answered where children will turn to. As a comparison, China not only restricts but also provides alternatives through features like Douyin Youth Mode and child-specific applications with content actively curated by the state.
According to him, Indonesia needs to encourage platforms to provide alternatives or substitutes in the form of safe and curated content, rather than simply closing access without solutions.
Amelia also highlighted crucial aspects that must be clarified, from age verification methods, involvement of third parties, personal data protection, to complaint mechanisms and sanctions.
Digital platforms must block accounts belonging to children under 16 years old; the first phase includes YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X (Twitter), Bigo Live, and Roblox.
The government officially restricts social media access for children under 16 starting 28 March 2026. This policy impacts around 70 million children in Indonesia.
Currently, many platforms have provided parental control features, but not all parents understand how to operate them.
The Minister of Religious Affairs has instructed all ranks in madrasahs and religious education institutions to strictly oversee the implementation of PP Tunas.
Age restrictions on social media use are an important policy instrument.
Psychologist Rose Mini reminds parents to set an example by reducing gadget use. Without exemplary behaviour, child digital access restriction rules will not be effective.