Government urged to adopt community-based approach for KBLI socialisation
Economist from the Indonesia Strategic and Economic Action Institution, Ronny P. Sasmita, stated that the government needs to implement a platform-based and community-driven strategy to socialise the 2025 Indonesian Standard Industrial Classification (KBLI) for content creators.
“The socialisation strategy must be platform-based and community-driven. This means the government needs to enter the ecosystem where creators reside, namely social media, video platforms, and digital marketplaces,” Ronny told ANTARA in Jakarta on Friday.
The government, through the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS), officially inaugurated the KBLI 2025 on 17 December 2025, which, for the first time, provides an explicit legal position for the profession of content creator as a business activity.
Ronny noted that in socialising this, the government cannot rely on conventional approaches such as written regulations or formal seminars alone. This is due to the distinct character of digital creative economy actors, who are individualistic, spread across various cities in Indonesia, and highly dependent on platforms.
He argued that if the approach is too administrative and rigid, it could stifle creativity, particularly for small and novice creators. However, if left entirely unregulated, Indonesia risks losing potential state revenue, facing issues regarding business actor protection, and seeing a decline in ecosystem quality.
“Therefore, this must be viewed as a transition process, from an informal digital economy towards a more organised ecosystem,” he said.
He suggested that the government’s strategy should involve platform-based and community-driven socialisation, engaging key opinion leaders who set trends among creators, collaborating with major creators, and using communities as amplifiers.
Furthermore, the messages conveyed must be simple and practical, avoiding an overemphasis on administrative obligations and instead focusing on the direct benefits digital creators can gain by following government policies.
Ronny stated that having a Business Identification Number (NIB) provides significant benefits for digital creators in the economic sector, as they can obtain a legal identity as a business actor.
This policy will also open doors for economic development in various areas, such as formal financing from banks, partnerships with major brands that require legality, legal protection in contracts, and access to government programmes.
“Furthermore, this can serve as an entry point for ‘scaling up’. Creators will no longer be mere individuals dependent on platforms, but can evolve into business entities with teams, diversified income streams, and even the ability to export digital services,” he concluded.