Banning Children from Social Media as a Tool to Fight Algorithm Giants
JAKARTA — Restrictions on social media access for children under 16 years of age are expected to provide relief for parents facing the overwhelming tide of information that could sweep their children away.
On Saturday, March 7, 2026, the Government, through the Ministry of Digital Communication (Komdigi), officially issued Regulation of the Minister of Communication and Digital Affairs Number 9 of 2026 on the implementation of Government Regulation Number 17 of 2025 on the Management of Electronic System Operations in Child Protection, abbreviated as PP Tunas (Child Sprouts Regulation).
This policy was created based on direct instruction from President Prabowo Subianto, who hopes that children in Indonesia grow up in a safe and healthy digital environment.
This was previously mentioned by Prabowo at the State Palace in Jakarta on March 28, 2025, when he described the PP Tunas policy as the government’s commitment to protecting children in the digital space. “Today, the Tunas policy is a manifestation of our commitment to protecting children from various digital threats and risks, whilst ensuring they gain the best benefits from technological development,” Prabowo said.
He emphasised that this derivative regulation confirms the delay of account access for children under 16 years old on high-risk digital platforms, including social media and networking services.
The basis remains the same: high-risk digital platforms are deemed to pose increasingly real threats to child development.
The implementation of this account access ban for children will begin on March 28, 2026. Accounts for those under 16 years old will be deactivated gradually across various platforms, starting with YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Thread, X, Bigolive, and Roblox.
“This process will be carried out gradually until all platforms fulfil their compliance obligations,” officials stated.
The policy is presented as a form of government support for parents who are struggling to filter negative online content from their children.