IMPLEMENTASI ASAS KEPENTINGAN TERBAIK BAGI ANAK (THE BEST INTEREST OF THE CHILD) DALAM REGULASI PEMBATASAN USIA PENGGUNA MEDIA SOSIAL DI INDONESIA

Abstrak

The issuance of Minister of Communication and Digital Regulation Number 9 of 2026 mandating social media account deactivation for children under 16 responds to digital threats facing over 88 million Indonesian children. This normative legal research employs statutory, conceptual, and comparative approaches to analyse the implementation of the Best Interest of the Child principle and formulate its ideal model. The findings reveal significant challenges: internal inconsistency between Article 2(3) recognising differentiated child capacities and Article 30(3) setting a single age limit, absence of uniform age verification mechanisms complying with child data protection, minimal parental role regulation, unregulated platform algorithms, complex cross-sectoral and cross-border coordination, and unavailable emergency standard operating procedures. The ideal model requires seven pillars: regulatory harmonisation with tiered approaches distinguishing children under 12 and those aged 13 to 15, tiered age verification integrated with population administration, active parental consent, algorithmic regulation with mandatory periodic risk assessments, emergency SOPs, strengthened cross-border coordination strengthening, and community empowerment through massive digital literacy education.

Kata kunci

• Age Restriction
• Age Verification
• Best Interest of the Child
• Child protection
• Social Media
• implementasi asas kepentingan terbaik bagi anak