Meta raises Indonesia user age to 16 under child safety rule

Meta has raised the minimum age for Facebook, Instagram, and Threads users in Indonesia to 16 and will start removing accounts below that age.

Communications and Digital Minister Meutya Hafid said, as the company moves to comply with PP Tunas child protection rules.

The change was added to Meta’s community guidelines across the three platforms and that account removals had begun in stages.

Indonesia required digital platforms to comply with the regulation by March 28, and the rule sets a 16-year minimum for services classified as high-risk, up from the 13-year threshold used by many platforms before.

The ministry also issued a warning to Google over YouTube, saying the service had not fully met its obligations as an electronic system operator and giving platforms three months to submit self-assessments of their risk profiles.

🔗 Source: Kompas

🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

Meta’s compliance followed Indonesian government enforcement actions over non-compliance

Meta now complies, though it missed the March 28 deadline under Indonesia’s PP Tunas child protection regulation. Platforms such as X and Bigo Live, a livestreaming app, met the requirements from the start 1.
Indonesia sent formal summons letters to Meta and Google over failure to apply an under-16 age limit across their platforms. The minister said the letters went out on March 30 and were reported on March 31 2.
Officials also questioned both companies and asked 29 questions about alleged regulatory breaches 3.

Indonesia’s rule forces a global debate on platform safety models

Indonesia’s strict age-gating rules run against the approach favored by platforms such as YouTube, which pushes parental supervision tools instead of outright bans 4.
YouTube says a blanket ban could weaken safety by removing tools such as Family Link, Google’s parental controls service. It also says the ban could limit access to learning materials for students in remote areas 4.
About 70 million users under 16 are covered, which raises the stakes for digital platforms 2.
Indonesia’s move may shape similar laws in other large emerging markets, which could push tech giants to build country-specific features instead of a single global standard 5.