TikTok Blocks 4.1 Million Indonesian Accounts in Child Protection Crackdown

The Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs has announced that 4.7 million social media accounts belonging to children have been deactivated, with TikTok accounting for the majority of the closures.

Minister of Communication and Digital Affairs Meutya Hafid stated the account deactivations on TikTok and other social media platforms are part of the implementation of Government Regulation Number 17 of 2025 on Electronic System Governance for Child Protection (PP TUNAS).

“TikTok has taken down 4.1 million accounts as of June. YouTube reported around 600,000 accounts in May. We want other platforms to follow suit,” Meutya said at the Antara Heritage Center in Central Jakarta on Thursday (25/06/2026).

In addition, around 200 digital platforms have submitted self-assessments of their risk levels to the government. The Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs is currently evaluating the risk profile of each platform to ensure a safer digital space for children.

Meutya explained that a risk-based approach is being applied to encourage every platform to provide increasingly child-friendly services.

“We are not just delaying children’s access, but we also want to see a change in behaviour from the platforms. So we are making the rules based on risk,” Meutya said.

Once the assessment is complete, the government will announce the risk profile of each platform to the public.

“We are currently examining the documents from all the platforms that have been submitted to assess whether they are high risk or not,” she said.

The ministry is implementing restrictions on children’s access to social media by considering the different risks for each age group. The government has conducted a selection and compiled risk profiles, as well as determined categories considered risky for those under 13 years of age.

The following are the website and application categories based on PP TUNAS:

• Under 13 years: may only access completely safe platforms, such as educational sites or children’s platforms.

• 13-15 years: allowed to access low to medium risk platforms.

• 16-17 years: can access high-risk platforms, but must have parental supervision.

• 18 years and above: allowed independent access to all platform categories.

Platforms such as X, Instagram, or YouTube must conduct their own evaluations and report their categories to the Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs. The criteria used include:

• contact with unknown persons;

• exposure to pornographic content, violent content, content endangering life safety, and other content inappropriate for children;

• exploitation of children as consumers;

• threats to children’s personal data security;

• addiction;

• psychological health disorders in children; and

• physiological disorders in children.