MUI Lebak: Restrictions on social media for children under 16 will save the nation's children

Lebak (ANTARA) - Deputy Chairman of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) Lebak Regency, Banten, KH Ahmad Hudori, stated that restrictions on social media for children under 16 years old through PP Tunas (PP No. 17 of 2025) can save the nation’s children from negative content. “We strongly support the government in taking action to save the nation’s children by implementing social media restrictions for those under 16 years old,” he said in a statement in Lebak on Sunday. The policy aims to prevent children under 16 from being exposed to negative content, cyberbullying, and digital addiction. In fact, there are primary school (SD) and junior high school (SMP) children who are already addicted to online gambling. Thus, social media restrictions for children under 16 can save the nation’s children from negative content as well as addiction and obsession with games up to online gambling. In addition, it can prevent access to pornographic sites and cyberbullying. “I am convinced that if the nation’s children are not restricted from social media, it could bring disaster to their future,” he explained. According to him, currently, social media content games are aggressively targeting children under 16 years old, and children everywhere are always using Android handphones. They freely engage in negative content games without parental supervision, so prevention is needed through the social media restrictions in PP Tunas. MUI Lebak in the future will convey this to the community through pulpit sermons, study sessions, and religious advice to implement social media restrictions for children under 16 years old. “We hope that parents will be more active in supervising their children’s digital activities and limiting gadget usage time, such as 1.5 hours per day,” he said.