Indonesia starts implementing social media restrictions for children under 16

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia on Saturday began implementing a new government regulation approved earlier this month that bans children younger than 16 from access to digital platforms that could expose them to pornography, cyberbullying, online scams and addiction.

With the move, Indonesia became the first country in Southeast Asia to ban children from having accounts on YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, Bigo Live and Roblox. It follows measures that Australia took last year in a world-first social media ban for children as part of a push for families to take back power from tech giants and protect their teens.

Indonesia has said that the implementation of the restrictions would be carried out gradually, until all platforms comply with the measure.

“The government has instructed all digital platforms operating in Indonesia to immediately bring their products, features and services into compliance with applicable regulations. There will be no compromise on compliance, and every business entity operating in Indonesia is required to comply with Indonesian law,” Indonesia’s Communication and Digital Affairs Minister Meutya Hafid said on Friday evening.

In announcing the new regulation earlier in March, she said that this regulation would apply to around 70 million children in Indonesia — a country with a population of about 280 million.

Hafid said high-risk digital platforms are identified by factors such as how easy it is for children to become exposed to strangers, potential predators and harmful content in general, as well as the levels of risk of exploitation and data security scams.

But she acknowledged that implementing the new regulation — even gradually as planned — will be difficult. Getting digital platforms to comply and then making them report deactivations of under-16 accounts is difficult.

“This is certainly a task. But we must take steps to save our children," Hafid said. "It’s not easy. Nevertheless, we must see it through.”

Maura Munthe, a 13-year-old who spends roughly four hours a day on her phone on social media, including playing games on Roblox with her friends, said she feels “kind of 50-50” about the new government policy but mostly agrees with it.

Her peers in school, she says, worry they will miss out on all the fun and entertainment they now have access to.

“There are always other games on my phone, not only the online ones," she said. "I will likely play more games alone or just hang out with my friends.”

Munthe's mother, Leni Sinuraya, 47, said she has for years trusted her daughter to use her phone wisely, both when studying and when playing online games. Still, she sees the government's move as good for all children in Indonesia.

Parents, she says, have lost control — and social media platforms have taken over.

“Nowadays, when we see kids sitting in a restaurant, they have a phone right in front of them. It’s clear that they’re addicted," Sinuraya said. “They won’t eat unless they’re given a phone, and they throw a tantrum if they aren’t.”

"Mealtime is supposed to be a time for us to chat with the people around us,” she added.

Based in Jakarta, Indonesia's capital, Diena Haryana founded Semai Jiwa Amini foundation — also known as SEJIWA, a nonprofit that works on online child safety and protection.

According to Haryana, studies have shown that children’s use of social media can impact their mental health and trigger anxiety and depression.

But, she says, digital platforms also offer advantages and open up a whole realm of learning. Her foundation has tried to get parents and communities to work together on providing guidance and supervision for children in the online world.

“We also need to remember that they need to learn to use this digital technology at the right time, at the right age, and with the right guidance as well,” she said.

Haryana said the effects of restricting access to social media and digital platforms to children under 16 will only be seen once the measure is in place — she predicted both complaints from children and confusion among parents.

Parents and schools are expected to provide children with solutions on how to learn in the real world — not the digital one, she said.

“Of course, this takes time to get used to, which is why parents and schools need to encourage children to engage with the real world and make it fun for them," Haryana added. "And there’s plenty in the real world for children to explore.”

So far, few platforms have reacted to Indonesia's new regulation.

Elon Musk’s X on its Indonesia Online Safety Information page gives 16 as the minimum age required for users in the country. “It’s not our choice - it’s what Indonesian law requires,” the page says.

Google-owned YouTube said it supports the Indonesian government's effort to create an effective, risk-based framework that addresses online harms while preserving access to information and digital opportunity.

“We are ready to engage under the regulation’s self-assessment approach to demonstrate our long-standing safety rigor,” it said.

TikTok on its newsroom page said that it will take the necessary steps in line with regulatory expectations and continue to strengthen the safeguards, as well as keep Indonesian community in the platform informed as further guidance becomes available.

“We will continue to engage constructively with The Communication and Digital Affairs Ministry in the self-assessment process, and expect that the regulation will be applied fairly and consistently across all social platforms,” it said.

Restrictions on social media access for children under 16 first began in December in Australia, where social media companies revoked access to about 4.7 million accounts identified as belonging to children.

Some other countries — including Spain, France and the United Kingdom — are also taking or considering measures to restrict children's access to social media amid growing concern that they are being harmed by exposure to unregulated social media content.

Maura Munthe, center, and her parents Lena Sinuraya, rear, and Ronald, right, use their mobile phone at their house in Jakarta, Indonesia, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

Maura Munthe plays Roblox on her mobile phone at her house in Jakarta, Indonesia, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

Maura Munthe plays Roblox on her mobile phone at her house in Jakarta, Indonesia, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

Teenage boys use their mobile phones to browse social media in Jakarta, Indonesia, March 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

Teenage boys use their mobile phone in Jakarta, Indonesia, March 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Caleb Foster and Duke proved St. John's hasn't quite cornered the market on tenacity.

Foster returned from a broken foot and rescued the Blue Devils' national title hopes, helping the NCAA Tournament's top seed rally from a 10-point second-half deficit to beat St. John's 80-75 on Friday night and advance to the Elite Eight.

Playing less than three weeks after surgery on his left foot, Foster scored all of his 11 points in the second half. When Cayden Boozer's ballhandling struggles were allowing the Red Storm to extend their lead, Foster came in and turned the game back in Duke's favor.

“To be honest, he had no business playing tonight — 99 percent of guys do not come back to play under the circumstances of what’s happened to him,” Blue Devils coach Jon Scheyer said. “It was incredible the way he willed us.”

Isaiah Evans scored 25 points and Cameron Boozer had 22 points and 10 rebounds for the Blue Devils (35-2), who extended the nation's longest active winning streak to 14, but not before the fifth-seeded Red Storm (30-7) pushed Duke to the wire.

Duke will face either second-seeded UConn or third-seeded Michigan State in Sunday’s East Region final.

The Blue Devils led 77-74 with 32.4 seconds left when Cameron Boozer missed the front end of a one-and-one. Zuby Ejiofor drew a foul at the other end with 14.7 seconds to play, but the St. John's standout — who finished with 17 points, eight rebounds and six assists — made only one of two free throws.

Evans also made one of two, giving the Red Storm one last chance to tie it, down 78-75. But Dylan Darling — whose layup at the buzzer against Kansas in the previous round put St. John's in the Sweet 16 — missed badly from well beyond the arc. Boozer made two free throws with 1.5 seconds left.

It was just the second loss for St. John's coach Rick Pitino in 14 visits to the Sweet 16 — and just the second loss for this season's Red Storm in their final 23 games.

After a relatively sure-handed first half, the Blue Devils were sloppy to start the second. A turnover by Cameron Boozer led to a dunk by Ejiofor. Then Boozer’s brother Cayden had the ball stolen near midcourt by Darling and Ejiofor dunked again to put St. John’s up 48-44.

A Duke timeout did little to help. Another turnover by Cayden Boozer led to a layup by Ejiofor. Then 6-foot-11 Ruben Prey sank his fourth 3-pointer in four attempts, and suddenly the Red Storm were up 53-44.

Duke countered by inserting Foster for Cayden Boozer. He helped steady the offense, and the Blue Devils went to a zone on defense. They trailed by 10 before beginning their comeback.

A 3-pointer by Evans put Duke ahead at 63-62. Bryce Hopkins answered with a 3 for St. John’s. Then an acrobatic layup by Evans tied it — and the chase was on.

“They’re one of the most physical teams we played all year. It’s something we talked about every single day, just their physicality, their pressure,” Cameron Boozer said. “I thought we did a pretty good job overall. We had some stretches where we gave them a run with turnovers, but through the game overall we did a pretty good job weathering the storm.”

Dillon Mitchell dunked home a missed free throw to put St. John’s up 69-67. Then Evans made another 3, prompting Pitino to turn his back in apparent disbelief. Cameron Boozer banked in a shot from a tough angle while being fouled with 3:06 to play. The free throw put the Blue Devils up by four.

Foster's pullup jumper put Duke ahead 75-69. Ejiofor responded with a 3 for St. John's, but Foster's driving layup made it 77-72, and the Blue Devils held on.

“It was our defense that broke down,” Pitino said. “It wasn’t so much not being in the right place. We just got bullied to the basket. They do that to a lot of teams. That’s why they’re the No. 1-ranked team in the country. We couldn’t defend the bully drives.”

As expected, St. John's applied pressure from the start, contesting just about every inch of the court. Duke had some of the same problems Kansas did in the previous round, with inbounding the ball an adventure early.

Eventually, the Blue Devils settled in and led 35-28 following an 18-5 run, but four St. John's 3-pointers later, the Red Storm were up 40-39 at halftime.

After shooting just 11 of 35 from long distance against Kansas, St. John's was 9 of 18 in the first half Friday. That included a 3 by Mitchell, who was 0 for 14 from beyond the arc on the season, and a 3-for-3 showing by Prey, who came in averaging 4.1 points per game.

Pitino suggested NCAA organizers change the postgame protocol that had Duke, the winning team, going to the podium first.

“You should have the losing team go first because you left us disappointed in the locker room while the other team’s celebrating — rightfully so,” he said. “You should let the losing team go first and then let the winning team have as long as you want. Just a suggestion because you just left us hanging out there for over a half-hour.”

St. John's: This was Ejiofor's fourth season of college basketball and the fifth for Hopkins, so the Red Storm could look a lot different next season.

Duke: The Blue Devils have plenty of postseason history with each of the teams they could face in the Elite Eight.

AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness

St. John's head coach Rick Pitino reacts during the second half against Duke in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Friday, March 27, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Duke guard Isaiah Evans (3) reacts to a three pointer against St. John's during the second half in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Friday, March 27, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Duke guard Caleb Foster (1) looks to pass against St. John's during the second half in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Friday, March 27, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

St. John's forward Dillon Mitchell (1) and St. John's guard Oziyah Sellers (4) leave the court after their loss to Duke in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Friday, March 27, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

St. John's forward Bryce Hopkins leaves the court after the second half in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA college basketball tournament against Duke, Friday, March 27, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Duke forward Cameron Boozer (12) reaches for the ball as time expires during the second half in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA college basketball tournament against St. John's, Friday, March 27, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Duke guard Caleb Foster (1) drives past St. John's guard Dylan Darling (0) during the second half in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Friday, March 27, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)