IDAI: PP Tunas is an Effort to Protect Children's Growth and Development from the Negative Effects of Social Media
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Indonesian Paediatric Society (IDAI) supports Government Regulation number 17 of 2025 on the Protection and Governance of the Implementation of Electronic Systems in Child Protection (PP Tunas), given the increasingly concerning negative impacts of social media on children’s growth and development.
Central Board Chairman of IDAI, Piprim Basarah Yanuarso, stated in Jakarta on Saturday that this policy has long been awaited by the medical community. According to him, PP Tunas is part of the effort to save Indonesia’s golden generation.
“However, we remind that this is an initial step. Protecting children from the dangers of social media is a marathon that must be carried out gradually and continuously,” he said.
According to him, age restrictions are not an effort to confine children from the outside world, but rather a form of collective responsibility to prepare them more maturely.
“From the beginning, we have firmly stated that children under two years of age or in the first 1,000 days of life should not have access to gadgets. The first two years of life are a crucial period for child development,” he said.
He mentioned that this period is the golden age of brain growth which requires two-way interaction and real sensory stimulation, which cannot be replaced by screens. Even older children are now experiencing various disorders due to excessive exposure to gadgets and social media, he said.
IDAI assesses that this step by the Ministry of Communication and Digital (Komdigi) is a crucial intervention to protect the physical and mental health of Indonesian children from the adverse effects of digital content that they are not yet ready to face alone.
In addition, he said, the age limit of 16 years is a rational boundary, considering that at that age children are expected to have better emotional and cognitive maturity to filter information, so this step is a protective and preventive measure to save the nation’s generation from negative impacts that have been scientifically proven.
Chair of the IDAI Coordinating Unit for Growth and Development and Social Paediatrics, Fitri Hartanto, emphasised that access restrictions must be accompanied by strengthening the mentoring function at home. This policy will not be effective without synergy between regulators, digital platforms, parents, and educators.
“This is not about replacing the role of parents with rules, but how these rules become a foundation that enables parents to carry out their role better,” she said.
In the Minister of Komdigi Regulation number 9 of 2026 as the implementing regulation of PP Tunas, it is explained that several sanctions apply to platforms that do not comply with the rules, including administrative sanctions in the form of warning letters, temporary access suspension, to access termination.
This regulation is effective from 28 March 2026, restricting children from high-risk digital platforms, particularly for the initial implementation applying to eight digital platforms namely YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Threads, Instagram, X, Bigo Live, and Roblox.