Indonesia summons Google, Meta for ‘not complying’ with teen social media ban: minister

Indonesia issued summons letters to Google and Meta over their failure to comply with a social media ban for under-16s that entered into force over the weekend, the communications minister said.

In a video posted on Instagram late Monday, Minister Meutya Hafid said “the government is sending summons letters” to Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and Threads, as well as to Google, which oversees YouTube, adding they “violated Indonesian law”.

The summonses were issued “as part of the application of administrative sanctions in accordance with the applicable provisions”, the minister added.

App-addicted Indonesia began enforcing a social media ban for users under the age of 16 on Saturday, citing threats from online pornography, cyberbullying and internet addiction, as concerns grow globally over the impact of social media on children’s well-being.

Australia, which in December became the first country to introduce measures to protect teens from online threats, is investigating Facebook,…