Cabinet Secretary Seeks Parental Support to Restrict Social Media Access for Children Under 16

Jakarta — Indonesia’s Cabinet Secretary (Seskab) Teddy Indra Wijaya has called on parents to support the implementation of restrictions on social media access for children under 16 years old.

This follows the issuance of Communications and Digital Ministry Regulation Number 9 of 2026, which stipulates the deactivation of social media accounts belonging to minors beginning 28 March 2026.

The regulation represents a subordinate rule derived from Government Regulation Number 17 of 2025 concerning Electronic System Governance in Child Protection (PP TUNAS), signed by President Prabowo Subianto on 28 March 2025.

Wijaya expressed confidence that PP TUNAS will benefit and positively impact Indonesia’s entire young generation. He noted that children today face various threats on the internet, ranging from exposure to inappropriate content to cybercrime.

Through this regulation, Wijaya stated, children will only be able to access social media once they are mature enough and of sufficient age. Regarding the technical details of implementation, the government has appointed spokespersons designated by relevant ministries and institutions, particularly by Communications and Digital Minister Meutya Hafid.

The government will also conduct outreach to local government authorities and schools, which serve as educational institutions. “Moving forward, we will certainly socialise this regulation to the public. Alhamdulillah, last week the Communications and Digital Minister just presented this regulation, and alhamdulillah it received attention and support from parents especially,” Wijaya explained.

All parties, including the public, agreed to accelerate action towards 28 March so that child protection efforts in the digital realm can be implemented more effectively.

Wijaya acknowledged that implementation challenges will inevitably arise. However, he stressed that Indonesia must take steps to protect young people and the nation’s future generation from social media-related harms.

“There will certainly be challenges, as we discussed earlier, Indonesia is the first country operating at such a large scale. Australia has 5.7 million children, we have 70 million children when calculated from those 16 years old and below,” said Meutya.