New Delhi, March 28 -- 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 pl...