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

      The data is presented with the directness of an official report. On June 25, Indonesia's communications minister announced that TikTok and YouTube have disabled approximately 4.7 million accounts belonging to children under 16.

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

      These deactivations are the result of a regulation issued by the government in March, which mandates that social media companies that operate high-risk platforms remove accounts held by minors under 16.

      This regulation extends beyond just the two platforms mentioned in the recent figures; it also applies to X, Meta's Instagram, and the gaming platform Roblox, suggesting that the reported total is likely just the beginning rather than a comprehensive count.

      Indonesia is a large and youthful market, which contributes to the policy's significance beyond its own borders. The country is advancing children's online safety more vigorously than many others, joining a growing coalition that includes Norway and the UK. The 4.7 million figure offers other governments a tangible benchmark for understanding what compliance looks like when a regulator enforces a strict age limit and expects platforms to uphold it directly.

      The regulation from March is the legal basis for these figures. It requires companies managing platforms labeled high risk by the government to deactivate accounts belonging to children under 16, shifting the responsibility for enforcement to the platforms instead of parents or schools.

      This framework—where the state establishes a threshold that companies must enforce under the threat of penalties—mirrors the approach Australia has adopted with its under-16 ban, and the two scenarios are increasingly being viewed as tests of whether enforcement led by platforms can be effectively implemented on a national level.

      The disparity between the two platforms mentioned is notable. TikTok's 4.1 million deactivations significantly surpass YouTube's 600,000, a difference that may indicate variations in the age demographics of users on each service in Indonesia, their methods for identifying underage accounts, or simply the manner in which each company has chosen to report their figures.

      Italy’s prime minister has cautioned that such bans can be easily circumvented, a consideration that should be weighed against any deactivation numbers reported.

      The government has encouraged platforms to reveal how many accounts they have closed, and the outstanding figures from X, Instagram, and Roblox will complete the overall picture.

      The numbers were derived from the minister's own account, and the details provided by the companies on the identification of these accounts are limited.

      The specifics of enforcement—whether through age declarations, behavioral indicators, or other methods—were not detailed in the announcement, leaving the same question that has plagued similar initiatives elsewhere: how many users who are blocked simply return with a new account while claiming an older age?

      What the government has shared is the headline information: 4.1 million from TikTok, 600,000 from YouTube, alongside a regulation that still awaits reports from several major platforms. The forthcoming figures from X, Instagram, and Roblox will reveal whether the trend continues.