Observer: Australia Follows Indonesia in Summoning Non-Compliant Global Platforms

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Child observer Nahar views Indonesia as a pioneer in summoning global platforms that do not comply with rules prohibiting social media for children under 16 years old. “That’s good, Indonesia is in the lead. A good step that needs to be supported,” said Nahar when contacted in Jakarta on Thursday. Minister of Communication and Digital (Menkomdigi) Meutya Hafid has summoned representatives from Meta and Google because these two technology giants violated the provisions of Ministerial Regulation on Communication and Digital No. 9 of 2026, which implements the Tunas Government Regulation. Indonesia’s firm efforts have subsequently been followed by the Australian Government, which is now investigating five social media platforms for not complying with the ban on social media for children under 16 years old. Meta and Google are two technology giants that failed to meet the applicable provisions after the Tunas Government Regulation became effective on Saturday (28/3). Meanwhile, Google is the parent company of the YouTube platform. These digital platforms are categorised under Ministerial Regulation on Communication and Digital No. 9 of 2026 as high-risk platforms and are required to restrict children’s access to their services. Government Regulation No. 17 of 2025 on the Governance of Electronic System Operators in Child Protection (PP Tunas) has been in effect since 28 March 2026. Digital platforms are not permitted to provide or accept requests for creating social media accounts from children under 16 years old. Digital platforms must also block or deactivate high-risk digital accounts belonging to children under 16 years old.