Provincial Government: Social Media Access Restrictions Do Not Limit Children's Creativity

Tanjungpinang (ANTARA) - The Riau Islands Provincial Government (Pemprov Kepri) has stated that the government’s restriction on social media access for children under 16 years old is not intended to limit their creativity in the digital era. “The restriction aims to protect children from negative content, not to limit children’s creativity in utilising the digital world,” said Head of the Public Information Management and Services Division at the Riau Islands Communication and Informatics Office (Diskominfo), Ummil Khalish, in Tanjungpinang on Friday. She explained that children have been allowed to navigate the digital ocean freely without restrictions or strict supervision. Many of them, especially Gen Z, she said, often lounge at home scrolling through social media with various high-risk content accounts, such as pornography, violence, and hoaxes. She further explained that in the future, positive accounts will emerge that can sharpen children’s creativity in the virtual world, for example, educational content for children. She also conveyed that parents play an important role in enhancing children’s literacy alongside the social media access restriction policy. According to her, gradually, parents are encouraged to shift children’s focus from digital to reading literacy culture, because reading is the window to the world. “From reading, children can imagine, compose words and narratives. This is very much needed for their future,” she stated. She said the social media access restriction rule cannot function independently without parental involvement. They are expected to participate in supervising children’s access to the digital world at home, for example, by limiting gadget use, including monitoring the social media content accessed by children. She expressed concern that lately many children speak impolitely as an influence of negative content, with language that is distressing and should not be uttered by children. “That’s why the state is present to create a fence or boundary through the Tunas Regulation, aimed at protecting children from the negative phenomena of social media that can affect children’s mental and psychological health,” said Ummil. Tech company Meta, owner of Facebook, Threads, and Instagram, has affirmed compliance with the minimum age restriction of 16 for children to access their social media platforms in accordance with the Tunas Regulation.