Britain Plans to Implement Indonesia-Style Social Media Restrictions, Seeks Direct Public Input
Britain has plans to establish rules restricting social media usage for children under 16 years old and is preparing measures to implement them. Similar regulations have already been adopted in several countries, including Indonesia and Australia.
Britain will now conduct a public consultation with parents and children regarding these restrictions. The consultation will take place over the next three months, covering discussions about potential age restrictions for social media, bans on addictive design features, and curfews for those under 16 years old.
The review will also examine children’s interactions with gaming platforms and restrictions on artificial intelligence chatbot usage.
“We know parents everywhere are wrestling with how much time their children should spend in front of screens, when to give children a phone, what they see online, and the impact all of this has,” said Technology Minister Liz Kendall, quoted by Reuters on Monday, 2 March 2026.
“This is why we’re asking children and parents to participate in this important consultation about how young people thrive in an era of rapid technological change,” she added.
Separately, Britain is preparing stricter regulations for technology companies to remove intimate images without consent within 48 hours, or face fines of up to 10% of global revenue.
Indonesia has become one of the first countries to launch restrictions on social media use for children. Government Regulation Number 17 of 2025, known as the PP Tunas regulation, was launched last March and will be implemented this year.
The regulation classifies children aged 13 to 18 by age group for accessing social media. The government is not implementing a total ban as Australia has done. Children can still create social media accounts with parental permission.
Meanwhile, Australia became the first country to implement stricter rules from December 2025, banning children under 16 from using social media altogether.