Indonesia expanding under-16 social media ban to e-commerce

JAKARTA, Indonesia (MNTV) — Indonesia, already leading Southeast Asia’s push to keep children off risky digital platforms with an under-16 social media ban, now wants to extend those protections to e-commerce after officials said young people had become victims of online scams and unsupervised digital spending. 

The plan has drawn support from child psychologists, who warn of impulsive consumption among young users. However, it also presents e-commerce companies with a difficult compliance test: building age-verification systems that are accurate, practical and protect personal data without creating too much user friction, reports South China Morning Post.

Meutya Hafid, communications and digital affairs minister, said that the country’s recent ban on social media for teenagers, effective since March 28, would expand to e-commerce platforms “because we found children who became scam victims through e-commerce”.

The ban on children using “all digital platforms” was meant to help parents protect their children, Meutya said. “Letting them face off against [the platforms] alone, without rules, is like letting parents play chess against a grandmaster. They won’t win, or it will be very hard to win,” she said. 

Indonesia’s social media ban requires companies to implement an age verification mechanism, and failure to do so will be met with punishments such as a fine or blockage of their services.

A report last year by Google, Temasek, and Bain & Co showed that Indonesia’s digital economy – the biggest in Southeast Asia – was estimated to be valued at $300 billion, 60% of which, or $181 billion, was contributed by e-commerce.

Over 23 % of 229 million internet users in the country were classified as Gen Alpha, or those born in the 2010s, the Indonesian Internet Service Providers Association said last year.

More than 73 million internet users bought goods online as of 2025, either through marketplaces, social media, or messaging platforms, data from the trade ministry showed.

Mediodecci Lustarini, secretary of the directorate general at the ministry’s digital space supervision unit, said that there was a “misperception” that the regulation on child protection in digital spaces, known as PP Tunas, was designed only for social media.

“When we talk about PP Tunas, the object of the regulation is all electronic system providers, including marketplaces,” Lustarini said during a discussion, as quoted by Bisnis. 

She cited cases of children making online transactions without parental supervision, paying with cash on delivery or their parents’ credit cards.

Under the regulation, parental or guardian consent will be required for certain transactions, while platforms are prohibited from exposing child users to personalized advertisements to prevent impulse buying, according to Lustarini. 

“[Child] protection in e-commerce is not [meant] to limit innovation, but to ensure that our children’s future remains productive and safe in the digital ecosystem,” she said.

Dwinantoro Rumpoko, director of trade through electronic systems at the Ministry of Trade, noting the “multilayered” risks children faced navigating e-commerce platforms that ranged from payments and personal data to cross-border transactions.

He pointed out that many children were exposed to age-inappropriate products on e-commerce platforms, particularly those marketed or sold from abroad.

Sani Budiantini Hermawan, a child, adolescent and family psychologist at Daya Insani Psychology Institute, voiced her support for raising the minimum age of e-commerce users to 16, pointing to the developmental risks associated with early exposure to digital consumption.

“When children are exposed to these platforms from a young age, they risk developing consumptive habits,” Sani told This Week in Asia.

According to Sani, the visual nature of digital marketing can also trigger impulsive actions among children, which she defined as “action without thinking”.

“Children can’t yet distinguish between needs and wants. At that age, they can’t yet control themselves. Children can become selfish, forcing their will because their [shopping] desires are difficult to control.”

Technical hurdles

The e-commerce sector has signalled its intent to adhere to the forthcoming ban on e-commerce for under-16s, but several significant challenges stand in the way of compliance.

“In principle, e-commerce platforms will respect and comply with applicable regulations in Indonesia, including those concerning child protection in the digital space,” said Budi Primawan, general secretary of the Indonesian E-commerce Association.

“We currently observe that platforms are also conducting a self-assessment process and studying the details of its implementation while continuing to communicate with the Ministry of Communication.”

According to Budi, many e-commerce sites in Indonesia currently allow users as young as 13 to create buyer accounts, while sellers face more rigorous rules such as providing proof of identity, legality of the business, and account verification.

“The main challenge lies in technical implementation. For example, an age verification mechanism that is effective yet practical for users and protects their personal data,” Budi said, noting that such a measure would require “additional investments” including compliance systems and user education.

He also pointed to the need for cross-platform coordination to comply with the new ban, as marketplaces are typically connected to social media, payment gateways and user devices, all of which contain users’ personal data.