Roblox adds controls in Indonesia to meet child safety rules

Roblox will add new content and communication controls for Indonesian users under 16 to comply with new rules that restrict children’s access to “high-risk” social media accounts.

Indonesia’s Communications and Digital Ministry has identified Roblox, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok among platforms it classifies as high risk.

Communications and Digital Minister Meutya Hafid said platforms must deactivate high-risk accounts for users under 16 starting March 28.

Roblox’s chief safety officer Matt Kaufman said the company will roll out additional controls soon but did not share details.

🔗 Source: Reuters

🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

Indonesia’s new rule is part of a broader regulatory crackdown

The government has tightened tech oversight before, including a ban on social platforms that ran e-commerce and rules that make platforms pay for news content 1.
Earlier this week, the Communications and Digital Ministry carried out an unannounced visit to Meta Platforms’ Jakarta office and issued a “stern warning” over the company’s low compliance with national rules 2.
Communications and Digital Minister Meutya Hafid framed the push as support for parents who feel they are fighting a losing battle alone “against the giant of algorithms” 3.
Indonesia’s huge population gives platforms a market they cannot ignore, which raises pressure to comply 4.

The global child safety debate is shifting from West to East

Indonesia is following steps taken in Australia, where under-16 restrictions began in December 2025 and led to the removal or deactivation of about 4.7 million underage accounts 2.
Hafid said the change would make Indonesia the “first non-Western country” to delay children’s access to digital spaces based on age 3.
Civil society groups warn the trend brings hard choices, including privacy risks from age checks that require data collection along with limits on freedom of expression 3.