TikTok and YouTube removed 4.7 million accounts belonging to users under 16 in Indonesia.

      The figure is presented with the starkness of an official government report. Indonesia's communications minister announced on June 25 that TikTok and YouTube have suspended approximately 4.7 million accounts belonging to children under the age of 16.

      Most of these suspensions originated from one platform: TikTok suspended 4.1 million accounts, while YouTube removed 600,000, as stated by Communications and Digital Minister Meutya Hafid.

      These actions are in response to a regulation issued by the government in March, which mandates that social media companies operating high-risk platforms remove accounts belonging to children under 16. This regulation is not limited to just the two platforms mentioned in the latest statistics; it also includes X, Meta's Instagram, and the gaming platform Roblox. This suggests that the reported total represents an initial count rather than a final one.

      Indonesia, being a large and youthful market, enhances the significance of this policy beyond its own borders. The country has taken a stronger stance on child online safety compared to many others, joining a growing group of nations such as Norway and the UK. The 4.7 million figure serves as a tangible reference for other governments on how compliance can be achieved when regulators establish a strict age limit and require platforms to enforce it.

      The regulation from March is the driving force behind these numbers. It mandates that companies operating platforms classified as high risk must deactivate accounts belonging to children under 16, placing the responsibility for enforcement on the platforms rather than on parents or educational institutions.

      This framework, featuring a state-enforced age limit backed by potential penalties for companies, mirrors Australia's approach to its own under-16 ban, making both situations increasingly viewed together as experiments in whether platform-led enforcement can be effective on a national scale.

      There is a notable disparity between the two platforms reported thus far. The 4.1 million deactivations by TikTok overshadow the 600,000 by YouTube, a difference that may indicate variations in each platform's underage user demographics in Indonesia, in how they recognize young accounts, or simply in their reporting practices.

      Italy’s prime minister has cautioned that such bans can be easily circumvented, a warning worth considering alongside any numerical deactivation reports.

      The government has encouraged platforms to reveal the number of accounts they have suspended, and the pending figures from X, Instagram, and Roblox will complete the overall picture.

      The data stems from the minister's own statements, and the companies have provided limited information on how accounts are identified. The specifics of enforcement, such as methods of age declaration, behavioral tracking, or other strategies, were not detailed in the announcement. This raises the same concern that has emerged with similar regulations elsewhere: how many restricted users simply return with new accounts claiming a different age.

      What the government has made public are the key figures: TikTok at 4.1 million, YouTube at 600,000, along with a regulation that still awaits reports from several major platforms. The upcoming numbers from X, Instagram, and Roblox will indicate whether this trend continues.