As Indonesia follows in Australia's footsteps and brings about a social media ban for children, millions of accounts on popular apps TikTok and YouTube have been deactivated. TikTok has faced the brunt of the ban, with 4.1 million accounts belonging to users under the age of 16 being taken down.
YouTube, on the other hand, deactivated 600,000 accounts, according to communications and digital minister Meutya Hafid (via Reuters.) Neither social media giant has responded to requests for comment at the time of writing.
"We're not just delaying a child's access, but we want behaviours from platforms to change, too," said Meutya. Indonesia's curb on social media requires that high risk social media deactivates accounts belonging to users registered as being under the age of 16, to prevent addiction and mental health concerns.
So far, this list has included Meta's Instagram, X, TikTok, YouTube, and even video game platforms, as Roblox has been ordered to deactivate accounts, too.
