Synopsis
In a bold move, Indonesia has called on representatives from Meta and Google due to new regulations targeting social media use among children under 16. The government has categorized these platforms as high-risk and mandates that companies shut down accounts belonging to young users. Non-compliance could result in severe penalties, including a potential ban.Indonesia requires social media companies with platformsit deems high risk to deactivate accounts belonging to childrenunder 16, under a regulation that went into effect last week.
Meutya Hafid, Indonesia's Communications and DigitalMinister, said Meta and Google are "two business entities thatare non-compliant with the law" and that they were summoned onMonday to "undergo checks".
Failure to implement the curbs may result in sanctions oreven a block on the platform, the ministry has said. Meutya said Google and Meta had opposed the curbs from thevery beginning. Google and Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.
Both companies said last week they had put in place safeguards for children. Roblox and TikTok, owned by China's ByteDance, are two other platforms deemed high risk by the ministry. Meutya said the ministry sent a warning to the two companies to be fully compliant or risk being summoned.
TikTok and Roblox did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Indonesia's curbs, which the government says are intended to reduce the risk of cyberbullying and addiction, follow a banin Australia last year over concerns about social media's potential harms to young people's mental health. The criteria for high-risk platforms include the possibility of talking to strangers, addictive qualities and psychological risks, the ministry said.
Internet penetration in Indonesia reached 80.66% in 2025,according to a survey by the Indonesia Internet ServiceProviders' Association. The survey showed it was 87.8% among "Gen Z" users aged 13 to 28. There are about 70 million children under 16 in Indonesia, Meutya said.
