Minister of Communication and Digital: Nurturing Life Must Begin with Nurturing Children

Minister of Communication and Digital (Menkomdigi) Meutya Hafid believes that nurturing life for women must begin with nurturing children. Meutya is convinced that women have the power to drive change. However, on various occasions, not many women are given the opportunity. “We at Menkomdigi believe that nurturing life starts with nurturing children. And then leading change must of course be done at the forefront. Indonesia under the leadership of the President has chosen to do that,” said Meutya. She delivered this in her welcoming speech at the CNN Indonesia’s The Big Idea Forum (TBIF) on Thursday (16/4). The government’s support for protecting children is one of the measures implemented through restricting social media access for children under 16 years old. According to her, Indonesia has become the second country in the world to do so. “Because we are the second country in the world to implement the delay of children’s access to social media,” said Meutya. Currently, Meutya continued, Indonesia is one of the countries where its people spend the most time on the internet, namely eight hours per day. This fact must be realised by all parents. “PP Tunas is here to convey that children need to have their age delayed in entering social media,” said Meutya. Moreover, several data indicate that social media has a higher risk of negative impacts on children. Currently, there are eight major platforms that must comply with the social media restriction rules for children under 16 years old. “And this is started not without challenges. We have one of the largest digital markets in the world. Our children under 16 years old number 17 million,” she said.