YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and Threads Yet to Block Accounts of Children Under 16

KOMPAS.com - Government Regulation Number 17 of 2025 on the Governance of Electronic System Operators in Child Protection, or PP Tunas, officially takes effect today, Saturday (28/3/2026).

Through PP Tunas, the government, via the Ministry of Communication and Digital (Komdigi), requires digital platforms to deactivate accounts belonging to child users under the age of 16 as part of efforts to strengthen child protection in the online world.

However, as of 27 March, or one day before this regulation becomes effective, Komdigi states that only four platforms have already committed and are ready to comply with PP Tunas. These four are X/Twitter, Bigo Live, TikTok, and Roblox.

Meanwhile, YouTube and the trio of applications under Meta (Facebook, Threads, and Instagram) have not yet demonstrated a cooperative stance.

Meutya emphasised that the government has instructed all digital platforms operating in Indonesia to immediately align their products, features, and services in accordance with the applicable regulations.

“We also need to remind that the government has the authority to take enforcement measures in accordance with legal provisions, including the imposition of sanctions as mentioned,” she explained.

Nevertheless, she did not detail the form of sanctions that would be imposed if any platforms defy the rules.

“Of course, we once again believe that the platforms will still comply, and we will wait for tomorrow,” Meutya continued.

Meutya stated that the main objective of this tightening is not merely to restrict content, but to protect the privacy of children’s data, which has so far been scattered across social media platforms and is vulnerable to exploitation for business monetisation purposes.

In addition to Indonesia, several other countries, such as Australia, have also implemented rules restricting social media and gadgets for children and adolescents under the age of 16.

Meutya said that all children, regardless of which country they are from, are equally valuable.

“Therefore, we ask platforms to also fully uphold the principle of the child, namely universality and non-discrimination. So there should be no distinction that child protection rules in one country are followed, but not in another,” said Meutya.