Communications Ministry Coordinates Inter-Agency Child Social Media Access Policy

Communications and Digital Minister Meutya Hafid stated that the government is conducting ongoing inter-agency coordination to ensure the child protection policy in digital spaces is implemented effectively. Consequently, a coordination meeting with multiple ministries was held on Wednesday, 11 March 2026, at the Communications Ministry office in Central Jakarta to refine implementation details.

“We understand that the government has announced that on 28 March 2026 we will effectively implement the age restriction for children under 16 on social media that we previously announced,” Meutya said before beginning the coordination meeting.

According to her, inter-agency coordination is necessary because the policy’s scope is very large. Indonesia has approximately 82 million children under the age of 18. If referring to the age limit of 16 years in the regulation, approximately 70 million children will be affected by the social media access restriction policy.

Meutya noted that this figure is far larger compared to other countries that have implemented similar policies. “Similar regulations have been applied in Singapore with approximately 5.7 million children, but this is somewhat different because the scale is indeed quite large,” she said.

She explained that the social media access restriction policy for children did not emerge suddenly. The regulation stems from a revision of the Electronic Information and Transactions Law that was enacted in 2024.

The regulation was subsequently strengthened through Government Regulation Number 17 of 2025, which requires operators of electronic systems to provide protection for children. Subsequently, the Communications and Digital Ministry issued a ministerial regulation in March 2026 to regulate its technical implementation.

In its implementation, the government involves multiple ministries, including the Ministry of Interior Affairs, the Ministry of Religious Affairs, the Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection, the Ministry of Elementary and Secondary Education, and the National Population and Family Planning Board.

Meutya stated that the government wanted to ensure Indonesian children can develop in a safe, healthy, and supportive digital environment. Consequently, the government is continuing to refine coordination before the regulation is implemented effectively.