YouTube and TikTok have deactivated a total of around 4.7 million accounts belonging to children under the age of 16 in Indonesia, the country’s communications minister said on Thursday. The move comes as Indonesia’s new restrictions on social media use by minors begin to take effect.
TikTok, developed by Chinese technology company ByteDance, deactivated 4.1 million accounts, while Google’s video platform YouTube deactivated 600,000, Communications Minister Meutya Hafid said late on Thursday. She added that the ministry wanted other platforms to follow.
“We’re not just delaying a child’s access, but we want behaviours from platforms to change, too,” Hafid said, adding that the ministry was checking self-assessment reports submitted by the companies.
Neither TikTok nor YouTube immediately responded to a request for comment.
In March, Indonesia issued a regulation requiring social media platforms it deemed high-risk to deactivate accounts belonging to children under 16. Platforms affected so far have included X, Meta’s Instagram, and the gaming platform Roblox.
Indonesia’s government says the curbs are intended to reduce the risk of cyberbullying and addiction. The move follows a ban in Australia last year over concerns about the harm social media can pose to young people’s mental health, an approach now being watched and emulated by countries around the world. Britain announced this month that it planned wider restrictions covering gaming and live-streaming platforms.