Indonesia will bar social media accounts for anyone under 16

Indonesia announced that it will prohibit social media access for users under the age of 16. It will begin deactivating accounts that belong to minors on several major platforms. The policy is phased. Officials said it is intended to address risks such as internet fraud and excessive internet use.

A phased policy arrives in stages rather than in a single hour. Deactivating accounts means existing profiles of under-16 users would be shut, not only that new sign-ups would be refused. Several major platforms were named as the setting, without a published list of company names in the summary. The age line is 16.

Internet fraud and excessive use were the risks cited. The report did not define how excessive use would be measured. It also did not say whether parents could consent to an exception. The prohibition and the deactivation were the tools announced.

Social media platforms are the networked services on which people post and message. A national age ban is a government rule laid over those private services. Indonesia is the country imposing it. The announcement described intent and the start of deactivation, not a claim that every minor's account had already vanished.

Minors, in this policy, are users under 16. The report did not give the number of accounts expected to be closed. It did not set the calendar day of the first deactivation beyond calling the program phased. Fraud and heavy use were the public reasons attached to the rule.

Indonesia will block social media access for people under 16 and start closing minors' accounts on major platforms. The rollout is phased. Internet fraud and excessive use were the stated concerns. The age rule and the deactivations were the technology policy announced.