The Ministry of Communication and Digital (Komdigi) has announced that numerous digital platforms are actively demonstrating their commitment to developing robust child-friendly features. This proactive stance aligns with Government Regulation 17/2025 on the Governance of Electronic System Providers (ESPs) in Child Protection, widely known as PP Tunas. Under PP Tunas, all ESPs are legally obligated to implement child-friendly features by no later than March 2027.
Highlighting the progress, Komdigi’s Director of Digital Investigations, Irawati Tjipto Priyanti, emphasized the ongoing development efforts. “Many platforms are continuously working on these child-friendly features, and a significant number already have them. We are providing them with sufficient time; however, non-compliance will lead to sanctions,” stated Irawati during the ‘Growing in the Digital Era: Enhancing Youth Well-being and Resilience in Indonesia’ event in Jakarta on Thursday, November 20th.
According to Irawati, several prominent platforms have engaged in discussions with Komdigi regarding this crucial obligation. While refraining from disclosing specific details, she confirmed that major platforms, including global giants like YouTube, are actively in the process of enhancing or developing these essential child protection features. She specifically commended YouTube and Google for their efforts, adding that Komdigi had also extended invitations to Meta, and GoTo also appears to have a clear vision for child safety initiatives.
Further elaborating on platform-specific advancements, Dr. Garth Graham, YouTube’s Global Head of Health, announced at the same event that YouTube would soon roll out features enabling users to set time limits and exercise greater control over Shorts video content. This initiative forms a key part of YouTube’s broader feature updates specifically designed to cater to child viewers.
“These small interventions, which experts deem crucial for children, concern usage control and time management. This particular feature will allow users to set daily watch limits for Shorts videos,” Garth Graham explained on Thursday, November 20th. In a detailed statement provided to Katadata.co.id, YouTube confirmed that it has already launched various features tailored for children, pre-teens, and teenagers.
Beyond its dedicated YouTube Kids application, YouTube offers ‘Supervised Experience’ settings for children under 13. For teenagers aged 13 to 17, the platform provides ‘Voluntary Supervised Experiences for Teens,’ giving them more autonomy while still allowing for parental oversight. Crucially, YouTube is also limiting repeated video recommendations for specific types of content, such as depictions of cruel or disparaging teens, social aggression, unrealistic financial advice, and content that overly idealizes or promotes body and weight comparisons. “We are also reducing the frequency with which content like this appears for teenagers worldwide to prevent excessive repetitive viewing habits,” YouTube stated in a written release.
Meanwhile, Komdigi Minister Meutya Hafid lauded Roblox for integrating age-detection camera technology as a significant step towards child protection. “The innovation undertaken by Roblox is a positive response to the regulations being implemented by the Indonesian government,” Meutya remarked during the World Children’s Festival 2025, as quoted by Antara on Thursday, October 20th.
Roblox had previously discussed these feature developments in an exclusive interview with Katadata.co.id last October. Tami Bhaumik, VP of Civility and Partnerships at Roblox, revealed that the platform has launched over 100 security-related product features, specifically tailored for children. These comprehensive safety measures include facial age estimation to verify users’ actual ages, ‘Trusted Connections’ to limit interactions between children and unknown adults, and requirements for identity verification to access certain content.
“Another key feature is parental control, which allows parents to link with their children’s accounts. Parents can view their child’s friends, block users, set time limits, manage spending, and adjust content suitability levels, among other functionalities,” Tami Bhaumik told Katadata.co.id on Tuesday, October 14th. Komdigi had previously mandated that all Electronic System Providers, encompassing both public and private entities, must establish robust child protection governance. This protection is to be implemented through products, services, and features specifically designed for use by or access for children.
The critical aspects platforms need to address include the nature of advertisements, design elements, age verification processes, obtaining explicit consent from parents or guardians, and providing features that enable parents or guardians to monitor their child’s online activities and track their location.
Summary
The Ministry of Communication and Digital (Komdigi) mandates all Electronic System Providers (ESPs) to implement child-friendly features by March 2027, in accordance with Government Regulation 17/2025 (PP Tunas), with sanctions for non-compliance. Komdigi’s Director of Digital Investigations, Irawati Tjipto Priyanti, confirmed that many major platforms are actively developing or already possess these features. Komdigi is engaging with global platforms to ensure their compliance with these crucial child protection regulations, which include addressing advertisement nature, design, age verification, parental consent, and monitoring features.
YouTube plans to roll out time-limit controls for Shorts videos, supplementing its YouTube Kids app and ‘Supervised Experience’ settings for children and teens, while also limiting repeated recommendations for inappropriate content. Meanwhile, Komdigi lauded Roblox for integrating age-detection camera technology and over 100 child-specific security features. Roblox’s robust parental controls allow guardians to link accounts, manage friends, set time limits, control spending, and adjust content suitability.
