Indonesia's Rules Go Global, UK Follows Indonesia's Lead

The United Kingdom is conducting a trial of rules restricting social media use for teenagers, which have been launched in various countries including Indonesia. The trial lasts six weeks and involves various scenarios. The restrictions include curfews and limits on the usage time of certain applications. The number of teenagers participating in the trial is 300, as quoted from CNBC International on Thursday (26/3/2026). This programme is part of the digital wellbeing consultation launched this year. There have been 30,000 responses from parents and children regarding the impact of social media on children’s wellbeing, ending on 26 May. The programme covers four types of interventions. One of them is parental controls to delete or deactivate certain applications. In addition, there is also the imposition of a one-hour daily limit for teenagers on popular applications such as Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat. Other interventions include enforcing a curfew from 21:00 to 07:00, and not restricting social media at all. Previously, UK parliament members rejected a proposal to ban social media for children under 16 years old in the children’s and schools wellbeing bill. The UK’s online safety organisation, Ofcom, and the Information Commissioner’s Office also urged social media companies to ensure online protection for children. This includes using age verification technology and preventing strangers from contacting teenagers. Reuters also reported that many UK teenagers oppose the proposed rules. According to them, there are positive impacts from using each platform. Some other teenagers said the ban would be difficult to implement. They even suggested that they might seek out more dangerous alternatives when social media use is restricted. Restrictions on social media access for citizens aged 16 or under are effectively in place in Indonesia on 28 March 2026. These restrictions are regulated under PP Tunas, which requires social media platforms to begin deactivating social media accounts belonging to teenagers and children. Social media platforms must implement access restrictions for users based on each risk factor.