French President Comments on Indonesian Social Media Account Blocking for Children

French President Emmanuel Macron commented on Indonesia’s policy regarding age restrictions on social media use for children and adolescents.

Through his official personal account with the handle @emmanuelmacron on X (formerly Twitter), Macron quoted a post from news outlet AFP regarding the policy.

“Thanks for joining the movement,” Macron wrote, prefaced with a tick emoji indicating support.

Macron posted this on 6 March, the same day the Ministry of Communication and Digital (Komdigi) officially issued new regulations on social media use for children and adolescents.

The implementation phase of this policy officially commenced on 28 March 2026.

“This process will be conducted in stages until all platforms fulfil their compliance obligations,” explained Communications and Digital Minister Meutya Hafid in an official statement.

The account blocking rule for children is contained in Ministry of Communication and Digital Regulation Number 9 of 2026.

This regulation is a direct derivative of Government Regulation Number 17 of 2025 concerning the Governance of Electronic System Operations in Child Protection (PP Tunas).

In January, members of the French Parliament approved draft legislation that would prohibit social media use for children under 15 years old.

President Macron championed this regulation as a means of protecting children from excessive screen time.

“Our children’s and adolescents’ emotions are not for sale or manipulation, neither by American platforms nor by Chinese algorithms,” Macron said, quoted from the Guardian.

Beyond social media prohibition, the legislation also bans mobile phone use at the secondary education level.

The French government intends for the regulation to begin applying from the start of the 2026 school year for new accounts.

Former Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, who now leads Macron’s Renaissance party in the National Assembly, hoped the Senate could pass the draft legislation by mid-February so the ban could take effect on 1 September.