Expert Suggests Child-Friendly Features on Social Media Instead of Age Restrictions

A researcher from the Center for Digital Society (CfDS) at Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM), Hosea Immanuel Latumahina, stated that no country has yet been truly successful in specifically implementing a policy to ban social media accounts for children under 16, including the United Kingdom and the European Union which are still in the planning stages. “We need to question the main reason behind this. Is it because of the dominant narrative driven by comparisons with other countries? It is quite worrying if this is a reactive policy,” Hosea explained on Friday. Based on CfDS research, other countries have very specific and measured focuses. He cited Australia, which focuses on minimising negative impacts rather than rigidly restricting access, while China and Vietnam target online gaming duration rather than completely closing off social media access. In contrast, Indonesia is taking a step that combines all these dimensions simultaneously: fully restricting access, minimising negative impacts, and preventing destructive cases. This approach is considered to make the policy highly complex and risks stifling children’s digital rights. The goal of restricting internet access for children under 16 is to curb rampant cyberbullying, digital addiction, and cognitive decline. However, he noted that children will seek loopholes by manipulating age verification, a practice that actually degrades the credibility of the national digital security system. Secondly, when major platforms are blocked, children could potentially switch to underground platforms that have no security or age verification systems at all. Thirdly, this policy risks castrating children’s rights to participate, express themselves, and access healthy information in the digital space, rights guaranteed by the United Nations. He added that digital security issues such as data leaks and cyberbullying in Indonesia are systemic and experienced by all ages, not just children under 16. Limiting children without equipping them with the ability to filter information will only delay the problem; once they pass the age of 16, they will be directly exposed to the digital storm without any preparation. His party urged the government to enforce industry standardisation, compelling platforms to provide child-centric default features from the outset, such as automatic privacy mode and strict parental controls. The government is also urged to integrate digital literacy and ethics materials into the official school curriculum.