Parliament Urges Education and Digital Communications Ministries to Coordinate on Social Media Restrictions for Children
Jakarta — A member of the Education Commission of the House of Representatives, Habib Syarief Muhammad, has called on the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education (Kemendikdasmen) to immediately coordinate with the Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs (Komdigi) regarding the implementation of social media restrictions for children.
“This policy targets children at primary school, junior secondary school, kindergarten and pre-school level. Therefore, Kemendikdasmen must proactively respond to this policy to ensure its implementation runs effectively,” Habib Syarief said in Jakarta on Tuesday.
He made the statement in response to the issuance of the Minister of Communication and Digital Affairs Regulation Number 9 Year 2026, which implements the Electronic System Administration Governance in Child Protection (PP TUNAS).
Under the regulation, children under 16 years of age are not permitted to have accounts on various popular social media platforms, including YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, Bigo Live, and Roblox.
According to Habib, cross-ministry coordination is crucial so that the child protection policy in digital spaces does not stop at regulation but can also be implemented in schools and educational environments.
Additionally, Habib Syarief urged Kemendikdasmen to conduct extensive socialisation with students, teachers, and parents regarding the prohibition on social media account ownership for children under 16 years of age.
“Socialisation must be carried out widely so that students and parents truly understand this regulation, including its main objective, which is to protect children from various risks in digital spaces,” he said.
Furthermore, he proposed that Kemendikdasmen consider imposing sanctions on students under 16 found to have social media accounts.
He also highlighted a potential loophole in the policy implementation: children accessing social media using accounts belonging to their parents or siblings.
“Rules must also be established prohibiting students from using social media accounts belonging to their parents or siblings. We must not allow them to access social media freely using others’ accounts simply because they are prohibited from having their own,” he said.
According to Habib Syarief, monitoring the use of family members’ accounts must be a serious consideration in policy implementation to ensure that the primary objective of child protection in digital spaces is truly achieved.
He hopes that synergy between Komdigi, Kemendikdasmen, schools, and parents can ensure the policy is implemented effectively whilst providing optimal protection for Indonesian children in the digital era.