Entrepreneurs Claim Prabowo's Regulations Could Hamper Economic Growth
Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – Government Regulation No. 17 of 2025, known as PP TUNAS, is scheduled to take full effect from March onwards. Implementation regulations through ministerial directives are currently being drafted.
Several business associations have voiced concerns about the regulation. The Indonesia E-commerce Association (iDEA) highlighted several issues raised during discussions in February.
iDEA Chairman Hilmi Adrianto stated that the proposed regulation restricts access to nearly all digital services. He also criticised the proposed risk assessment framework, which would classify nearly all digital services as high-risk, without considering existing protection measures implemented by individual platforms.
“We believe this risk classification mechanism needs further elaboration, and the automatic high-risk labelling also requires additional review to ensure equal treatment across platforms,” Hilmi said during a media briefing on Friday (27 February 2025).
Additionally, age verification lacks clear and uniform technical standards. Ultimately, he argues this will create privacy and data security risks, increase compliance costs, and create fragmentation of systems across platforms.
Hilmi stressed that age verification should create a safer digital environment, not simply exclude children from platforms.
“If applied uniformly, this regulation could restrict teenagers’ access to communication, education, and digital transaction services that have already become part of daily activities,” he explained.
Impact on Indonesia’s Digital Economy
Hilmi also highlighted the disproportionate administrative burden. The digital sector will face additional obligations including self-assessment, risk reporting, and supervisory authority, along with potential access restrictions for teenagers.
Beyond this, such conditions could hinder innovation and digital economic growth in the country.
“This situation could hamper existing innovation, slow digital economic growth in Indonesia, and reduce investment in the digital sector,” he said.
Agung Yudha, Executive Director of Modantara (Indonesia’s Digital Mobility and Delivery Association), noted that if the regulation’s risk-based assessment is not sufficiently clear, it will cause legal uncertainty and overall protection ambiguity.
“This will create uncertainty, and legal certainty is one factor, while implementation consistency is also important regarding business decisions to invest in a market. This will certainly add obstacles and challenges,” Agung said.
Firlie Ganinduto, Deputy General Chair of Communications and Informatics at the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin), called for the regulation’s impacts and implications to be considered across all stakeholders in the ecosystem, including businesses who will implement it and play a crucial role in Indonesia’s digital economy.
“Therefore, we must pay attention to these matters, and we want to emphasise that every regulation issued by the government, especially digital regulation, must be implementable and adaptive,” Firlie said.
Prabowo’s Launch
Government Regulation No. 17 of 2025 on the Governance of Electronic System Operations in Child Protection (PP TUNAS), signed on 28 March 2025 and effective from 1 April 2025, was announced directly by President Prabowo Subianto at the Presidential Palace.
The regulation requires every Electronic System Operator (PSE) to filter harmful content, provide easily accessible reporting mechanisms, and ensure swift and transparent remediation processes.
A key aspect of PP TUNAS is the classification of age groups and risk levels for digital platforms. The Ministry of Digital Affairs (Komdigi) regulates restrictions on children’s access to mobile applications and social media based on low, medium, and high-risk categories.
The following are PSE obligations under PP TUNAS:
Filter harmful content for children
Provide easily accessible reporting mechanisms
Conduct swift and transparent remediation
Implement age verification to prevent exposure to negative content
Implementation will proceed in stages with a two-year adjustment period
The following are website and application categories under PP TUNAS:
Under 13 years old: only access to fully safe platforms such as educational websites or children’s platforms
13-15 years old: permitted access to low to medium-risk platforms
16-17 years old: can access high-risk platforms with parental supervision
18 years and above: unrestricted independent access to all platform categories
However, PP TUNAS does not explicitly state which applications fall into low, medium, or high-risk categories. Platforms such as X, Instagram, or YouTube must conduct their own evaluation and report their category to the Ministry of Digital Affairs.
The following are assessment aspects for determining social media categories for children:
Contact with unknown persons
Exposure to pornography, violent content, content dangerous to life safety, and other unsuitable content
Child exploitation as consumers
Threat to children’s personal data security
Addiction
Psychological health disorders in children
Physiological disorders in children