Sumedang Regency to Block Social Media Accounts of Children Under 16

The Sumedang Regency government is strengthening child protection efforts in the digital space by deactivating or blocking social media accounts used by children under the age of 16. The Communication, Informatics, Encryption, and Statistics Office (Diskominfosanditik) of Sumedang Regency is coordinating with the Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs (Komdigi) to track social media accounts used by minors.

“This step is part of early mitigation to protect the younger generation from the various negative impacts of using social media without supervision,” said Sumedang Deputy Regent M Fajar Aldila. According to him, children under 16 can access social media very easily, often without parental guidance or supervision, which can negatively affect their growth and development.

Fajar stated that children under 16 do not yet have the mature ability to filter the information circulating on social media. Therefore, the use of social media at that age must be accompanied and supervised by parents and the surrounding environment. “Children are not fully able to filter what information is good and what is not. Therefore, this step is a form of early protection so that they are not exposed to content that can influence their character or behaviour,” he explained.

He emphasised that the account blocking policy is a form of preventive risk mitigation. The government prefers to take early action rather than wait for problems that could harm children to arise. “We continue to collaborate with the central government to track social media accounts used by minors. This is a preventive effort so that they can grow up in a safer and healthier digital environment,” he stressed.