Implementation of PP Tunas Cannot Be Done Hastily
The Bantargebang tragedy serves as evidence of systemic failure. Various elements of civil society, education practitioners, and legislative representatives are calling for a thorough review of the plan to implement Government Regulation (PP) Number 17 of 2025 concerning the Governance of Electronic System Implementation in Child Protection (PP Tunas), scheduled to take effect on 28 March 2026. Although this regulation is positioned as an instrument to protect young people in the digital world, the policy is deemed to carry very concerning cybersecurity and data privacy risks.
Without transparent security audits and adequate personal data protection infrastructure, the implementation of this PP could actually create new vulnerabilities for millions of Indonesian children.
The primary concern centres on the mandatory user identity verification mechanism required by this regulation, which will automatically create a massive storage centre for children’s personal data. Cybersecurity experts warn that this centralisation of sensitive data will become a prime target for cyberattacks and data breaches in the future.
Efforts to protect children from the negative impacts of social media must not be done by jeopardising their privacy through a verification system that has not yet been tested for reliability. This is considered a contradictory step if the government enforces implementation without absolute guarantees of data security.
Views regarding the philosophical foundation of this regulation also come from the fundamental education sector. Chair of Social and Community Affairs of the Indonesian Teachers Association (IGI), Endang Komalasari, emphasised that restrictive approaches such as access restrictions will not address the root of the problem as long as the quality of basic education in Indonesia has not undergone significant improvement. She issued a strong warning about the policy direction that is seen as only addressing the surface.
“If the quality of basic education is still as it is today, restricting social media will have little effect. We need to talk about critical thinking and literacy quality formed in schools, not merely limiting access to technology without strong educational foundations,” said Endang on Tuesday (11 March).
In line with this, member of the Regional Representative Council (DPD), Fahira Idris, stated that the government must not rush in implementing this regulation because the technical and sociological challenges in the field remain highly complex.
According to her, the success of this policy is highly dependent on budget readiness and human resource capacity at the regional level, which is still far from ideal. Fahira emphasised the need for genuine financial commitment before this regulation is forced into effect.
“The implementation of PP Tunas cannot be done hastily. The government is obliged to allocate a special budget for strengthening regional capacity, including official training, strengthening child protection institutions, and developing monitoring systems that require sustained budget support. Without genuine and equitable resource investment, implementation in the field will be uneven and will only become a new burden for regional governments,” said Fahira firmly.
Furthermore, Fahira urged the government to adopt a more holistic protection model by learning from countries such as Denmark and Australia, which have successfully combined strict regulation with massive public education.
She emphasised that the state must facilitate the role of parents as the first line of defence through structured digital literacy, not merely by imposing responsibility without adequate preparation.
“We must massively promote digital literacy based on family and school. Digital security needs to be incorporated into school curricula and training for parents must be provided widely. Furthermore, the government must maintain multi-stakeholder dialogue continuously. The involvement of industry, academia, civil society organisations, and parent communities is crucial so that this regulation remains adaptive to technological dynamics and does not create business uncertainty that damages our digital ecosystem,” she added.
Given various fundamental considerations regarding data security risks, low readiness of regional apparatus and budgets, and insufficient quality of education as the main defence for children, the plan to implement PP Tunas on 28 March 2026 is deemed too premature and should be postponed.
All parties agree that child protection is a priority, but this must be achieved through a safe, planned system that addresses the root of education problems, not through policies that appear to be enforced.