Social media companies TikTok and YouTube have deactivated a total of around 4.7 million accounts belonging to children under the age of 16 in Indonesia, the country’s communications minister said, as its social media curbs began to take effect.
TikTok, developed by Chinese technology company ByteDance, has deactivated 4.1 million accounts, while Alphabet’s Google’s video platform YouTube has deactivated 600,000 accounts, Communications and Digital Minister Meutya Hafid said late on Thursday, adding that the ministry wanted other social platforms to follow.
Neither company responded immediately to a request for comment.
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In March, Indonesia issued a regulation which requires social media companies with platforms it deems high risk to deactivate accounts belonging to children under 16, which have so far included X, Meta’s Instagram and game platform Roblox.
