Senator Sherwin Gatchalian has renewed his call to ban minors from social media, citing Indonesia’s move to block users under 16 from “high-risk” platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube, X, and Roblox.
Indonesia became the first Southeast Asian nation to enforce the restriction, while Australia earlier rolled out a similar ban that fully took effect in December 2025.
Gatchalian pointed to growing risks online, as the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center urged telcos to prepare for a possible Roblox block to shield children from exploitation and harmful content.
The senator also noted a Los Angeles jury ruling that held YouTube and Meta liable for childhood social media addiction.
Gatchalian warned of academic impact, citing 2022 PISA data showing each extra hour of leisure screen time among Filipino students led to a four-point drop in math scores.
“Huwag na nating hayaang lumala pa ang problema bago tayo kumilos,” he said.IMT
