PP Tunas: A Positive Step Taken by the Government, Monitor Its Implementation
Education observer and CEO of Jurusanku, Ina Liem, stated that given data indicating around 80% of Indonesian children already access the internet with an average duration of up to seven hours per day, PP Tunas represents a positive step for the government to take.
“If not controlled, this pattern is clearly unhealthy in terms of mental health, sleep quality, and potential exposure to age-inappropriate content,” she told Media Indonesia on Sunday (29/3).
Furthermore, she emphasised that restrictions alone are not sufficient. There must be equally enjoyable alternative activities so that children do not feel a sense of loss.
“Here, collaborative traditional games need to be promoted again, as they have been proven to better train empathy, social interaction, and teamwork skills,” explained Ina Liem.
Therefore, no less important is the government’s role in socialisation. The government needs to ensure that the policy message is consistently understood in society, one way through training for parenting speakers and psychologists.
“They are the parties who daily serve as references for parents. If the narrative delivered is not aligned, the policy could be misinterpreted or seen as too restrictive. Because ultimately, it is the parents who implement this policy at home, not the government,” she stressed.
Separately, education observer and Rector of the Institut Media Digital Emtek (IMDE), Totok Amin Soefijanto, said that PP Tunas is a good initiative but too late.
“This regulation has good intentions, but it is too weak and slow (too little, too late). We have been buzzing about the impacts of social media for a long time, even before the pandemic. However, it is regrettable that its execution is slow. Perhaps Komdigi could say better late than never,” he asserted.
“This regulation has weak enforcement, because the supervisory devices are lacking and there are integrity issues. For example, gambling sites. Society still doubts whether the government is capable of taking action against violators? How and who is authorised? As a result, this PP is good only for image-building,” Totok concluded.
The implementation of restrictions on digital space access for children under 16 years old is deemed ineffective if not accompanied by the provision of alternative digital spaces.
The Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology encourages the 7 Great Habits alongside the social media restrictions for children under 16 through PP Tunas to mitigate the negative impacts of the digital space.
Several parents support PP Tunas, including Mia Santani, 36. However, there are several notes.
PP Tunas is officially in effect, the government pressures digital platforms. The surge in child pornography cases serves as an alarm, families are urged to strengthen literacy to protect children.
PP Tunas can serve as a shield for parents to protect their children from the dangers of excessive social media use.
Komdigi will restrict social media access based on age. Age-based social media access restrictions are carried out to accelerate child protection in the digital space.