The State's Firmness in Child Protection

Imagine a 12-year-old child who stares at their mobile phone screen for hours every day. They scroll endlessly through content: short videos, reels, online games, and live streaming. It is as if the screen is the only world they know.

Unfortunately, this is not a fictional story. This is the real portrait of millions of Indonesian children today. Data from the Ministry of Communication and Digital (Komdigi) of the Republic of Indonesia records that the average duration of internet usage by Indonesians has reached seven to eight hours per day. The majority of users are children and adolescents.

Of around 70 million social media users aged under 16, not a few are exposed to content involving violence, pornography, online gambling, hate speech, and material that worsens mental health.

This threat does not come from a distant outside world. It enters through the grasp of the hand, seeps in through constant notifications, and shapes the young generation’s perspective on themselves, others, and the world.

It is not surprising that several global psychology studies link excessive social media exposure in adolescents to increased cases of anxiety, depression, sleep disorders, and even self-harm behaviour.

This is where the state must step in, not by banning technology, but by creating reasonable and dignified boundaries for children. This is for their growth and development.

PP Tunas as the Nation’s Stance

Government Regulation Number 17 of 2025 on the Governance of Electronic System Operators in Child Protection—better known as PP Tunas—was not born suddenly.

It is the result of a long process of regulatory drafting involving various stakeholders. It is then synchronised with the Child Protection Law, the Personal Data Protection Law, and the Electronic Information and Transactions Law Number 1 of 2024 (ITE) as the second amendment to Law Number 11 of 2008.

PP Tunas was enacted by President Prabowo Subianto on 28 March 2025. This regulation will be fully implemented on 28 March 2026, after the government issues its technical rules through Ministry of Komdigi Regulation Number 9 of 2026.

Its spirit is clear and firm: the best interests of Indonesian children must be the top priority in the digital space. PP Tunas requires every electronic system operator (PSE), namely digital platforms operating in Indonesia, to filter harmful content. They must also provide easily accessible reporting mechanisms, conduct strict user age verification, and—most revolutionary—prohibit the use of children’s data for any advertising or business purposes.