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Indonesia has deactivated about 4.7 million social media accounts belonging to children under 16 as the country’s new online safety rules begin to take effect.
Communications and Digital Minister Meutya Hafid announced on Thursday that TikTok removed 4.1 million accounts, while YouTube deactivated another 600,000. The minister said the government expects other social media platforms to follow the same approach.
“We’re not just delaying a child’s access, but we want behaviours from platforms to change, too,” Hafid said.
The new policy follows a regulation introduced in March that requires social media platforms deemed high risk to deactivate accounts of users under 16. Platforms covered by the rule include X, Meta‘s Instagram and the gaming platform Roblox.
Indonesia says the restrictions are targeted at protecting children from cyberbullying, online addiction and other digital harms.
The communications ministry is also reviewing compliance reports submitted by the affected companies.
Neither TikTok nor YouTube immediately responded to requests for comment.
Indonesia’s move follows similar action by Australia, which last year introduced a social media ban for younger users over concerns about its impact on children’s mental health. The policy is now being closely watched by governments around the world.
Earlier this month, the United Kingdom (UK) also announced plans to expand online safety rules to include gaming and live-streaming platforms.
