Speaker of Parliament Puan States DPR Supports Curbs on Social Media for Children to Prevent Excess

JAKARTA — The Speaker of Indonesia’s Parliament (DPR RI), Puan Maharani, has stated that the DPR supports the government’s policy restricting social media usage for children under 16 years of age.

According to her, such restrictions are necessary because the current unrestricted use of social media is considered excessive and could have adverse effects on children.

“The DPR supports what the relevant ministries have already undertaken to limit social media for children,” said Puan when met at the DPR building on Tuesday (10 February 2026). “Because currently the unrestricted freedom of social media use is likely not good for children either, so this matter needs to be evaluated again,” she added.

The PDI Perjuangan politician also believes the restriction policy could be expanded to other age groups in the future.

“Currently it is only for age 16, but of course in the future we also hope it can be restricted for other age groups because that has already been done by other countries,” said Puan.

The regulation is contained in Communication and Digital Ministry Regulation Number 9 of 2026, which stems from Government Regulation Number 17 of 2025 concerning the Governance of Electronic Systems in Child Protection.

Communication and Digital Minister Meutya Hafid stated that the policy will begin implementation on 28 March 2026.

“Through this regulation, the government delays access to accounts of children under 16 years old on high-risk digital platforms, including social media and social networking services,” said Meutya in a statement on Friday (6 March 2026).

Meutya explained that implementation of the policy will be carried out in stages until all digital platforms comply with the established regulations.

According to her, the step is taken as an effort by the state to protect children from various threats in digital spaces, such as exposure to pornography, cyberbullying, online fraud, and the risk of digital platform addiction.

“We are taking this step to reclaim the sovereignty of our children’s futures. We want technology to humanise people, not sacrifice our children’s childhood,” said Meutya.