LONDON: Video game platform Roblox will introduce content and communications controls in Indonesia for players under 16 to comply with the country’s new social media restrictions for children, the company’s chief safety officer, Matt Kaufman, said in an emailed statement on Wednesday.
Indonesia’s Communications and Digital Ministry issued a regulation earlier this month requiring platforms to deactivate “high risk” social media accounts held by under-16s, with the measure to take effect on March 28, according to Communications and Digital Affairs Minister Meutya Hafid.
Roblox, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok were among the platforms designated as high risk.
“In order to address regional requirements in Indonesia, we will soon introduce additional controls on content and communication for players under the age of 16 years old in Indonesia,” Kaufman said, without providing further details on what those controls would entail.
Social media platform X announced that from March 28, Indonesian users must be at least 16 years old to hold an account.
“It’s not our choice — it’s what Indonesian law requires,” the company said on its website.
Indonesia is among a growing number of countries, including Australia, to impose restrictions on children’s use of social media amid mounting concerns about the safety and mental health of underage users.
Roblox has faced similar regulatory pressure in the Middle East.
In September, Saudi Arabia's General Commission for Audiovisual Media and the UAE’s Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority ordered the platform to disable all in-game text and voice chat as a child safety measure.
The company said it was working to restore those features using artificial intelligence tools and Arabic-speaking moderators.
Kuwait, Qatar and Oman banned the platform outright over the summer, with Egypt following suit earlier this year.
The scrutiny extends to the US as well. In August, the state of Louisiana took Roblox to court, accusing the company of facilitating child exploitation, an allegation Roblox rejected as false.
The platform has about 85 million active users, approximately 40 percent of whom are under the age of 13.
With Reuters
