Commission X Chair Urges Social Media Restrictions Not to Block Access to Educational Content
JAKARTA — The Deputy Chair of Commission X of the Indonesian House of Representatives, Lalu Hadrian Irfani, has stated that rules restricting social media for children should not prevent young people from accessing educational content online.
Whilst expressing support for social media restrictions, Lalu cautioned that children also need to adapt to developments in knowledge and technology. “We in Commission X welcome the latest policy from the Ministry of Communication and Digital regarding social media restrictions,” said Lalu at the House of Representatives building on Tuesday, 10 March 2026.
According to Lalu Hadrian, digital literacy must remain an important part of the education system. He therefore hopes the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education will also prepare policies ensuring access to educational content remains open.
The politician from the National Awakening Party emphasised that support for the restriction policy is based on numerous cases of violence involving school-age children. He noted that many incidents of violence were found to be caused by exposure to unhealthy digital content. “After investigating, it turned out they were exposed to poor digital literacy. That’s it. For this reason, we in Commission X strongly support the policy issued by the government through the Ministry of Communication and Digital,” he said.
The government through the Ministry of Communication and Digital has issued new regulations regarding social media use for children under 16 years old. These rules are outlined in the Ministry of Communication and Digital Regulation Number 9 of 2026, which derives from Government Regulation Number 17 of 2025 concerning the Governance of Electronic System Administration in Child Protection.
Minister of Communication and Digital Meutya Hafid stated that the policy will begin implementation on 28 March 2026. “Through this regulation, the government delays access to accounts of children under 16 on high-risk digital platforms, including social media and networking services,” said Meutya in a statement on Friday, 6 March 2026.
Meutya explained that implementation of the policy will be carried out in stages until all platforms fulfil compliance obligations.
According to her, this step is being taken as an effort by the state to protect children from various threats in digital space, such as exposure to pornography, cyberbullying, online fraud, and the risk of digital platform addiction. “We are taking this step to reclaim the sovereignty of our children’s future. We want technology to humanise people, not to sacrifice our children’s childhood,” said Meutya.