Why Indonesia's child-safety push puts eCommerce's growth model under scrutiny

Indonesia’s proposed expansion of under-16 digital restrictions into eCommerce is becoming more than a child-safety initiative, signalling a deeper shift in how platforms, brands and marketers are expected to balance commercial expansion with consumer protection and digital wellbeing.

What began as a government effort to shield children from cyberbullying, pornography and online addiction is evolving into a broader regulatory overhaul. The proposed expansion follows comments by communications and digital affairs minister Meutya Hafid, who said children had become victims of scams through eCommerce platforms, encouraging proposals to widen the scope of Indonesia’s under-16 restrictions beyond social media.

The implications go far beyond compliance, as experts suggest the proposed rules could fundamentally reshape how Indonesia’s digital economy studies young consumers, designs engagement mechanics and defines responsible growth.

Don't miss: Indonesia moves to bar under-16s from social media in sweeping digital safety push

The changing economics of youth engagement

For Rima Sjoekri, senior consultant at mediasense Indonesia, the regulatory shift challenges the very mechanics that have underpinned youth acquisition strategies for years.

“In reality, youth influence has never depended on direct digital access,” she said. “What is actually ending is the ability for platforms to study the under-16 cohort’s behaviour in real time, build profiles from it, and use those profiles to forge a direct, seamless journey from discovery to purchase; bypassing parents, bypassing age-appropriateness, and bypassing common guardrails that society has already agreed to be needed by them.”

Her remarks point to a broader recalibration underway across the digital economy. For years, eCommerce and social platforms have relied on algorithmic engagement to cultivate future consumers early, building habits long before users reached adulthood. Indonesia’s proposed restrictions threaten to interrupt that pipeline.

Sjoekri argued that platforms now face a more fundamental question: “what kind of relationship do they want to build with the under-16s and the adults around them for the long term?”

Responding to MARKETING-INTERACTIVE, Blibli said it understood the government’s objective of strengthening child protection in digital spaces, but stressed that implementation would need to account for the differing risk profiles and service models of each platform.

The company noted that eCommerce platforms function differently from social media or content distribution services, arguing that policy implementation should adopt a more proportional and risk-based approach.

From impulse buying to family-trusted ecosystems

Rather than targeting children directly, marketers may need to pivot toward “family-trusted” ecosystems built around shared consumption and parental participation.

Blibli said that underage users on its platform are already expected to access services with parental or guardian supervision, reflecting what it described as a “shared responsibility” model between platforms and families.

Eveline Anastasia, founder and CEO of GEMA Worldwide, believes the industry’s future growth model may depend less on short-term conversion and more on trust-based engagement. “Platforms now help shape youth spending habits and consumerism itself,” she said. “If they can accelerate purchase, they also inherit responsibility for how early those habits form.”

From an agency perspective, Anastasia said brands should move toward “safe, verified experiences” that still allow supervised exploration through browse-only modes, shared wishlists and parental approval systems. She explained:

In practice, that means restricting purchases for users under 16, but keeping a supervised, non-transactional exploration path.

Such thinking reflects a growing industry consensus that the challenge is not simply blocking underage users, but redesigning digital journeys altogether.

Sjoekri suggested platforms could learn from shared-account ecosystems already common in other sectors. Rather than framing regulation around restriction, she argued platforms should build collaborative experiences between children and parents.

“A supervised account model built around parental participation and shared discovery would be aspirational and work better than one built around parental control and restriction,” she said.

“The platform that builds for this relationship through shared wishlists, family recommendation feeds, ‘suggest to mama’ features, co-viewing of product content is building a relationship product.”

The verification dilemma

The proposed regulation also exposes difficult operational questions around age verification and data privacy.

Indonesia’s approach appears increasingly tied to identity verification systems linked to national identification data, diverging from Australia’s preference for alternative age-assurance methods that minimise reliance on official government IDs.

Sjoekri described KTP-based verification as “the most robust mechanism available” because it mirrors offline identity checks required for age-restricted purchases. However, she noted a structural flaw: Indonesian citizens only receive a KTP at 17, while the proposed threshold applies from age 16.

“This creates a full year from the 16th birthday to the 17th, during which a young person is legally permitted to access restricted platforms but has no government-issued document to verify that permission,” she said.

Meanwhile, concerns over biometric verification continue to grow. Sjoekri warned facial recognition systems could create “a data exposure risk of a different order”, while also remaining vulnerable to manipulation.

Albertus Prestianta, lecturer at Multimedia Nusantara University and researcher at Australia’s Digital Media Research Centre, said Indonesia and Australia are pursuing fundamentally different philosophies around digital identity and privacy.

“In Indonesia, digital sovereignty is achieved through administrative compliance tied to official identity systems, whereas in Australia, official identities are deliberately kept away from platforms to protect citizens’ privacy,” he said.

He also noted that Indonesia’s current regulatory framework still leaves important gaps around targeted advertising aimed at minors.

“PP Tunas and the Komdigi ministerial regulation do not yet explicitly regulate targeted advertising aimed at children in digital spaces,” he said, adding that clearer implementation guidelines are still awaited.

Why platforms fear friction

Beyond verification, one of the industry’s biggest fears is friction.

Anastasia said platforms are deeply concerned that tighter onboarding requirements could weaken already fragile conversion funnels. “The commercial fear is backed by hard data,” she said.

If an age verification check adds two minutes to checkout, cart abandonment rates spike by 15% to 25%.

For platforms built around speed, gamification and instant gratification, even minor delays could materially impact growth.

“Platforms understand that in Indonesia’s mobile-first environment, where users make split-second decisions about whether to bother downloading and registering an app, the sign-up experience is not a courtesy feature. It is the product,” she added.

A wider rethink of platform responsibility

Experts see the policy as part of a broader ideological shift redefining digital platforms as social actors rather than neutral infrastructure.

“This is not a revolution,” Sjoekri said. “It is a return to principles that should have governed the digital economy from the beginning.”

Anastasia echoed that view, arguing that platforms are now being forced to acknowledge their role in shaping behaviour.

“If a platform can engineer faster purchasing through algorithmic urgency and dopamine-driven mechanics, it inherits accountability for what those mechanics produce,” she said.

For Prestianta, however, regulation alone will not solve the deeper issue.

“Platforms must be ethical and oriented towards human dignity and the essence of humanity,” he said, stressing that digital literacy and education must evolve alongside regulation.

He added that the communications ministry cannot work alone, and called for broader collaboration across education institutions to help young Indonesians navigate an increasingly complex digital environment.

Be part of PR Asia Indonesia 2026 on 15 July 2026 – the first time this regional communications flagship lands in Jakarta – bringing together communications leaders ready to redefine influence, reputation, and impact!

Related articles:
Roblox to roll out youth safeguards in Indonesia as platforms respond to new regulations
Nearly five million teen social media accounts vanish as Australia’s under-16 ban bites
How agencies in M'sia are preparing for the under-16 social media ban