Minister Meutya Hafid Urges Digital Platforms to Prioritise Child Protection

Minister of Communication and Digital (Menkomdigi) Meutya Hafid has asserted that Indonesian children must no longer be treated as objects of experimentation by digital platforms that pursue attention and profit without considering the impact on the growth and development of the younger generation. According to Meutya, technological advancements have changed the way children grow and learn. Previously, children encountered the classroom before technology, but now many children interact with screens from a very early age. “Technology opens up great opportunities for learning and creativity. However, we also face real threats in the form of exposure to harmful content, digital exploitation, cyberbullying, and platform addiction,” Meutya said at The 8th International Conference on Early Childhood Education 2026 in Bekasi on Saturday. Therefore, child protection in the digital space is no longer merely a technical issue, but part of human development that determines the quality of future generations. As a concrete step, the government has issued a Government Regulation on the Governance of Electronic System Operations in Child Protection (PP Tunas). “Children are not prohibited from knowing technology, but they have the right to a safe digital space that is appropriate for their developmental stage,” Meutya said. She emphasised that the responsibility for child protection should not be placed solely on parents and schools. Digital platforms must also share the responsibility of creating a safe environment for child users. “All this time, children have been forced to adapt to technology. In fact, technology should be designed to protect children,” she stressed. Meutya added that the challenge of child protection is increasingly complex because digital platforms operate across borders, necessitating collaboration between government, academics, the technology industry, educational institutions, and civil society to deliver effective solutions. According to her, the success of digital transformation is not only measured by how fast technology develops, but also by how well a country is able to protect the generation that will live with that technology in the future.