After the ban on Australia, Indonesia Mulls minimal age for social media | Social media

Medan, Indonesia – As a mother of an 18-month-old daughter, Laila Lubis is busy with the experience of the challenge and joy of her new motherhood.

Although her daughter has only recently spoken her first words, Lubis is already thinking about how the internet and social media could shape her development for a long time into the future.

“I will never give a mobile phone to my child,” said Lubis, who works as a humanitarian worker at Mandailing Natal, Northern Sumatra, for Al Jazeera.

“I will not allow my daughter to use a mobile phone for as long as I can. Maybe when my child is about six years old, I’ll think about schooling at the Kindergarten house, so they will have to have access to the Internet.”

Bust of Indonesia countless families have similar discussions among themselves, because the Government prepares to introduce a minimum age for the use of social media.

The Minister of Communication and Digital Affairs of Meutya Hafid first floated plans last month, as part of the effort to strengthen the policies of the protection of children in the archipelago of about 280 million people.

Although the government has yet to be published by a certain age limit, officials emphasized the need for stronger regulation to protect minors from “physical, mental or moral danger”.

The Indonesia’s offer comes to the fifth of similar efforts in neighboring Australia, which in November became the first country to enter a ban on under the age of 16 than an approach to social media.

According to Australian legislation, social media platforms such as Facebook, Tictoka and Instagram face up to $ 32 million if they do not implement age requests.

Prior to the introduction of its law, Jakarta announced its intention to impose temporary guidelines for the protection of children to companies on social media, while the Government is making legislation.

Lubis said that although the ban had yet to be fruitful, she believed that it was positive that the Government had initiated a debate on maintaining children online.

“I believe there are more negatives, not positive for children who use social media and the Internet, especially very young children,” she said.

The potential prohibition is the last in a series of efforts of the Indonesian government to restrain themselves into large technological companies.

In October, the Indonesian authorities banned the sale of Apple iPhone 16 and Google Pixel for the failure of the company to adhere to the regulations that persuade that smartphones perform at least 40 percent of their parts locally.

2022. The government threatened to block Google, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram if they did not register at the Ministry of Communication, although companies were spared from the ban after applying before the deadline.

Authorities also blocked the popular Netflix Streaming Platform from 2016 to 2020, due to the fear of promoting “inappropriate content”, including pornography, and briefly blocked the Tictok video sharing platform.

“In some ways, the question reflects a wider source of tension between Jakarte and BIG Tech, and the Government Incentive for greater corporate responsibility in maintaining a safe information space for Indonesians,” Gatra Priyandit, Senior Analyst in Cyber-Technology and Security at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute , he told Al Jazeera.

“By imposing age restrictions, using social media, the burden of implementation is shifted to technological companies, making them directly responsible for compliance and potential relegation,” Priyandit said, adding that the discussions about the restriction of social media for years in Indonesia have turned in Indonesia, though serious efforts, Although serious efforts have gained attraction only recently.

“The authorities primarily focused on the exploitation of children, radical narratives and other harmful facilities,” he said.

While Australian legislation has terminated new soil, the potential ban on Indonesia would affect many more people.

About 139 million Indonesians use social media and almost half of children younger than 12 access platforms such as Tictok, Instagram and Facebook, according to the Indonesian Association of Internet Services Service.

Priyandita said that the GEN Zsu users had the highest rate of internet use in Indonesia from 12 to 27 years, with 87 percent, and most of them are active on Tictok and Instagram – both of which praise more than 110 million users in the country .

“Gen Alpha [people born after 2010] It will probably be very proactive users of social media. Their deviation from these platforms will mean that social media could lose a huge number of followers, “he said.

As in Australia, the plans for the implementation of minimum age also caused concern about privacy and potential abuse of user data.

“The implementation of minimum age requirements on social media platforms would require user identification, such as driving licenses or national IDs. This is a significant risks of privacy, especially for platforms that encourage anonymity, such as Reddit, because sensitive data could be violated or sold, “Priyandit said.

“One is an alternative that the Government stores user data, while platforms simply check the ID without keeping personal data. However, digital ID systems carry their own security vulnerability because they remain subject to data violations and data abuse. “

Some Indonesians question the need for government intervention to make minors away from popular platforms.

Adi Sarwono, a social worker who runs a literacy program for the buses of desolate for children with poor children in Lampung, Sumatra, said that the use of social media among young people has both positive and negative aspects.

“The development of children’s creativity and their communication skills are positive. However, there are negative things that social media create like an effect on concentration, causing excessive anxiety, lack of confidence, and even sleep disorders and harassment, “Sarwono told Al Jazeera.

An attempt to eradicate or limit the use of social media among children can be difficult to achieve in an era where most people are online, Sarwono said.

“Technological progress is not something that can be resisted, but it can be wisely used. It is necessary to control the children’s approach to social media and the time they use it, “he said.

“There must also be a space to ensure that you can monitor children when using social media.”