Report from the New York Times
In Brief – In line with a growing number of countries around the world, the Government of Indonesia announced it will ban teenagers under 16 from accessing social media, citing concerns about online harms and addiction. Indonesia is ranked as the world’s fourth-most populous country. According to the government, nearly 80 percent of Indonesian youths are already connected to the internet. Communications and Digital Affairs Minister Meutya Hafid said the policy is intended to protect children from threats such as pornography, cyberbullying and excessive platform use. Beginning March 28, accounts belonging to users under 16 on platforms designated as “high-risk” will be gradually deactivated, starting with YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, Bigo Live and Roblox. While technology companies have expressed caution about the regulation, Indonesia said that those that fail to comply could face fines, temporary suspensions or loss of access to the market.
Context – Online age limits and related age checks are on the march globally. Australia’s 16-year-old threshold for holding social media accounts is the highest profile example, and officials in countries like France, Spain, and the UK have grabbed headlines by calling for similar age limits. Indonesia’s move is a reminder that age limits are also being proposed in developing countries such as Malaysia, India and Egypt. These countries tend to have significantly younger populations and more authoritarian governments. Keeping younger people off alternative media and communications platforms until their late teens would never have anything to do with politics, would it? Before age-checking social media to get teens off their phones became vogue, stopping access to porn was the headline cause. It was the first step to age verification in France and was the subject of the landmark Supreme Court decision in the US. In Australia, age checks are now also being done by Google because search can lead to porn. Long-held concerns of privacy and civil liberties advocates to online age verification regimes are failing to stem the tide.