President Macron welcomes Indonesia's move to restrict social media for under-16s

Jakarta — French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed Indonesia’s move to officially restrict the use of social media for children under 16. Macron expressed support via the social media platform X on Friday, quoting a media report related to Indonesia’s enactment of rules restricting access to social media for underage children. ‘Thank you for joining this movement,’ the French President wrote on X, as observed in Jakarta, referring to the campaign to restrict social media for children that France has also implemented. The French National Assembly, in January, approved a Bill that would prohibit the use of social media by children under 15, in line with Macron’s drive to protect minors. In addition to France, Australia is another country that has officially restricted the use of social media for under-18s. Meanwhile, several countries such as Malaysia, Spain and Denmark are also considering implementing similar restrictions. The Ministry of Communications and Digital RI on Friday issued Ministerial Regulation Number 9 of 2026, which regulates restrictions on access by children under 16 to digital platforms. According to the implementing rules of Government Regulation No. 17 of 2025 on the Governance of the Electronic System in the Protection of Children (PP Tunas), children under 16 are not allowed to have accounts on high-risk digital platforms. ‘Today we issued the Ministerial Regulation derivative from PP Tunas. Through this regulation, the government delays access for accounts of under-16s on high-risk digital platforms, including social media and networking services,’ said Minister of Communications and Digital Meutya Hafid in her statement. Implementation of the derivative regulation from PP Tunas will be carried out gradually from 28 March 2026. In applying the regulation, accounts owned by children under 16 on high-risk digital platforms such as YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, BIGOLIVE and Roblox will be deactivated. Meutya stated that the regulation’s implementation will be carried out gradually until all platforms can operate in accordance with the applicable provisions.