Komdigi to Limit Age of Social Media Users for Children and Teenagers from 28 March 2026

The government through the Ministry of Communications and Digital (Komdigi) will implement age restrictions for children and adolescents accessing high-risk digital platforms starting 28 March 2026. The deadline clarifies initial discussions that suggested full implementation in early March. The rule, contained in Government Regulation Number 17 of 2025 on the Governance of Electronic System Administration in Child Protection (PP Tunas), requires platforms to restrict access for child users. ‘Through PP Tunas, the government delays the age of access to high-risk digital platforms for children up to 16 years, and for services with lower risk starting at 13 years,’ said Minister of Communications and Digital (Menkomdigi) Meutya Hafid in an official statement received by KompasTekno on Thursday, 5 March 2026. Meutya emphasises that this new policy is not intended to cut off or ban children from using the internet entirely. The policy’s main target is tech companies. According to Meutya, the regulation also considers various forms of risk in digital space, from exposure to dangerous content, interactions with strangers, potential exploitation of children, to risks of addiction to platform usage. ‘Even when the content is not problematic, excessive use of digital platforms can lead to addiction that impacts mental health and child development,’ she said. The government’s aggressive move is not without reason. Of Indonesia’s total 229 million internet users, child involvement is dominant. Almost 80 percent of children are connected to the internet. UNICEF data reveals about 50 percent of Indonesian children who are active online have been exposed to sexual content on social media. In addition, 42 percent of children report feeling afraid or uncomfortable due to experiences in the digital space. The number of online child exploitation cases recorded by the government is also substantial, reaching 1.45 million.