Protecting children amidst digital flood

In a world filled with algorithms, notifications, and endless information streams, our greatest challenge is actually straightforward: ensuring that children still have space to experience a complete childhood.

Indonesian children today grow up in a world unlike any previous generation. Their childhood is spent almost entirely in front of screens.

Within less than two decades, digital devices have transformed from mere communication tools into a second living space for young people. Children learn through screens, play through screens, and even build social relationships through screens.

Amid these rapid changes, the state has finally attempted to apply the brakes. Starting 28 March 2026, the government is implementing Communications and Digital Ministry Regulation No. 9 of 2026, which restricts internet access for children under 16 years of age.

This policy marks an important shift: the digital space is no longer viewed merely as technological infrastructure, but as a social environment affecting child development.

The regulation aims fundamentally to create a safer digital space for children. Several key principles established include restricting children’s access to high-risk digital platforms, particularly services featuring open recommendation algorithms or allowing public interaction without adequate moderation.

Additionally, digital platforms are required to implement age verification for users, provide child-specific accounts, and introduce parental control features allowing settings for usage duration, monitoring of digital activity, and content restrictions.

The regulation also requires technology platforms to actively moderate harmful content, including pornography, online gambling, extreme violence, and manipulative practices targeting children.

In other words, the state is beginning to transfer part of the responsibility for child protection from families alone to the architecture of the digital system itself.

This step should be viewed as an important state initiative in protecting young people. Amid the relentless flow of technology, such policies represent an effort to ensure that digital innovation continues in tandem with social protection.