* Uncertainty over implementation of Indonesia's social

media restrictions for under-16s

* Government has designated platforms including Roblox ( RBLX )

and TikTok as high risk for young users

* Platforms say they are implementing safeguarding

measures

By Yuddy Cahya Budiman and Stanley Widianto

JAKARTA, March 27 (Reuters) - Armed with a smartphone,

Anza Zafran Utama, a 9-year-old boy in the Indonesian city of

Bogor, is either a dinosaur or a shooter, depending on his

mood.

Zafran and his friends regularly hang out on Roblox ( RBLX )

, the U.S. platform where children can build immersive

3-D worlds and communities, but from Saturday under-16s are set

to be restricted from using the platform under new government

rules, after officials designated it high risk.

"I like to joke around with my friends there," Zafran said

of Roblox ( RBLX ).

His mother, Andina Dwi, said he spends as long as four hours

on the platform after school, getting up only to charge his

phone.

"When he plays Roblox ( RBLX ) he forgets time," said Andina, 32, who

supports the controls.

Indonesia's social media curbs, which the government says

are intended to reduce the risk of cyberbullying and addiction,

follow a ban in Australia last year over concerns about social

media's potential harms to young people's mental health. In the

U.S., where social media companies face thousands of lawsuits

over their platform designs, a court on Thursday found Meta

and Alphabet's YouTube created addictive

products that caused harm to young people.

Indonesia has also designated platforms including X, Meta's

Facebook and Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok, owned by China's

ByteDance, as high risk.

'TECHNICAL GUIDANCE LACKING'

But as the clock ticks down to Saturday, neither parents

nor children have much idea of what will happen - whether all

under-16 users will find their accounts automatically

deactivated, or whether there will be a new verification

process.

"The policy is all concepts, but the technical guidance is

still lacking," said Ika Idris, a social media expert at Monash

University, herself a mother of two children, aged 11 and 16,

who use Roblox ( RBLX ).

Calling the policy rushed, she said she was unsure what

would happen on Saturday.

Earlier this month Meutya Hafid, Indonesia's communications and

digital minister, said the deactivation of current accounts of

under-16s would take place gradually from Saturday.

She did not go into detail and the timeline, as well as the

criteria for deactivation, remain unclear.

Officials at the ministry did not respond to requests for

comment on details of the deactivation.

High-risk platforms must adjust their minimum age and

deactivate accounts of underage users, as well as independently

determine the risks they pose, according to a ministerial decree

published this week.

Platforms are determined high risk if they fulfil criteria

such as the possibility of talking to strangers, addictive

qualities, and psychological risks, the ministry said.

PLATFORMS TAKE STEPS TO COMPLY

Roblox will introduce content and communications controls for

players under 16 in Indonesia to comply with the country's new

social media regulations, the company said, though it did not

provide details of the controls.

Berni Moestafa, Meta's head of public policy, Indonesia and

Philippines, said the company was "committed to protecting

teens" on its platform, and had already launched "Teen Accounts"

for Instagram and Facebook in Indonesia. Moestafa said the

accounts included "built-in protections to address parents' top

concerns, including who their teens are talking to online, the

content they're seeing and whether their time is being well

spent, by default."

TikTok did not comment when asked about measures they had

taken.

X said Indonesia's minimum age requirement "prevents

age-restricted social media platforms, including X, from letting

people under 16 create or keep an account. It's not our choice -

it's what Indonesian law requires."

Google said on Friday it had placed safeguards for children

and appreciated Indonesia's "risk-based self assessment approach

which incentivizes built-in protections and age-appropriate

experiences for youth, as opposed to a blanket ban."

It added that YouTube was often used for educational

purposes and removing accounts of under-16s risked "creating an

educational divide" in a country of 280 million people.

'I DON'T WATCH ANYTHING STRANGE'

Indonesia announced penalties last year for non-compliance

with the protections, including sanctions and, in the worst

cases, a block on the platform.

But experts remain sceptical about the measures'

implementation, and say children may also be able to find ways

around the system.

"There are concerns this won't be effective," said Wahyudi

Djafar, tech analyst and director of think-tank Catalyst Policy

Works. "The implementation is complicated."

Internet penetration in Indonesia reached 80.66% in 2025,

according to a survey by the Indonesia Internet Service

Providers' Association. The survey showed it was as high as

87.8% among "Gen Z" users aged 13 to 28.

"I don't watch anything strange ... just normal things,"

said 10-year-old Andaru Brahma Satria, about potentially losing

access to YouTube.

"I feel just a little bit sad."