Nezar Calls on Social Media Platforms to Tighten Account Creation for Children

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Deputy Minister of Communication and Digital (Wamenkomdigi) Nezar Patria has called on social media platforms to tighten the account creation process for children in order to strengthen their protection in the digital space.

Nezar said that most social media platforms accessed by children are based on user-generated content (UGC), necessitating stricter oversight from the account registration stage.

“In general, the social media platforms accessed by children are mostly UGC-based. For this reason, we are approaching a number of platforms that use or have UGC characteristics to be stricter regarding account creation,” Nezar said during a podcast at the Antara Heritage Centre, Jakarta, on Tuesday.

According to him, filtering must be carried out from the outset, particularly in the user age verification process. This is important to determine whether a child should be permitted to upload content on social media.

“If children, for instance, want to enjoy social media content designated for children their age, 13 years old, their parents should also be able to know about it,” he said.

The government, together with digital platforms, is establishing a joint monitoring system in an effort to strengthen child protection from exposure to negative content or content unsuitable for their age in the digital space.

Nezar said discussions regarding surveillance mechanisms have been conducted through a number of meetings with platform representatives.

He explained that the agreed measure is the creation of a joint dashboard for monitoring and reporting by Electronic System Operators (PSE) or digital platforms.

“There have been a number of meetings with platforms discussing how to carry out this monitoring, and it has been agreed upon by all parties. So we are creating a joint dashboard for oversight in the form of reports from these Electronic System Operators,” he said.