The Urgency of Digital Literacy Behind the Implementation of PP TUNAS
The government has officially implemented Government Regulation (PP) Number 17 of 2025 on the Governance of Electronic Systems in Child Protection (PP TUNAS) effective from 28 March 2026. This regulation serves as the primary legal instrument to protect Indonesian children and adolescents from exposure to digital content unsuitable for their psychological development.
However, the effectiveness of PP TUNAS now faces a major challenge: the low level of digital literacy in society. Several studies indicate that an access restriction approach alone is insufficient.
Protecting the digital space requires comprehensive measures that include public education and strengthening users’ capacity to understand cyber risks.
One critical issue in the field is the phenomenon of children using their parents’ identities to access digital services or conduct online transactions. Without adequate parental understanding, age restriction policies risk becoming irrelevant.
National Coordinator of the Indonesian Education Monitoring Network (JPPI), Ubaid Matraji, assesses that this policy risks becoming a superficial solution if it does not address the root problems.
“The main issue lies in the failure to build a safe digital ecosystem and character education in the era of disruption,” said Ubaid.
In agreement, cyber expert from CISSReC, Pratama Persadha, emphasises that regulations must address dimensions of cyber security and identity verification infrastructure.
According to him, the policy’s effectiveness greatly depends on the system’s ability to perform accurate age verification and platforms’ compliance with national rules.
“From a cyber security technical perspective, implementing this policy is a fairly challenging step to apply effectively,” said Pratama.
From a psychological perspective, Associate Professor from the Faculty of Psychology at Mercu Buana University, Setiawati Intan Savitri, views the 16-year age limit in the regulation as having a strong foundation. However, she stresses that the best solution is a transition from external government regulation to internal regulation or children’s self-control.
In this regard, the role of parents is considered more vital than the state as the primary actor. Intan asserts that children’s awareness must be built through proper parenting patterns.
“And the application of those rules must go through and be preceded by communication from parents to children or good, consistent, and gradual authoritative parenting,” concluded Intan.
The Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology encourages 7 Great Habits alongside restrictions on social media for children under 16 years through PP TUNAS to reduce the negative impacts of the digital space.
The Ministry of Religious Affairs strengthens digital literacy for students and santri as part of the implementation of PP TUNAS for child protection in the digital space.
The Batam Communication and Informatics Office also continues to promote increased digital literacy for parents to guide children in using the internet wisely and responsibly.
In addition to AI, popular online games like Roblox and Minecraft are also seen as presenting risks because children often struggle to distinguish between the game world and reality.
Physical and social activities not only effectively divert attention from screens but also encourage children’s development in interacting with their surroundings.
Redirecting children’s habits from gadget dependency to more productive activities requires a guiding and inspiring approach, not merely prohibition.
Based on data from the 2024 National Socio-Economic Survey (Susenas), around 20.1% of Indonesian children are at risk of growing up without paternal care.
For busy working parents, allocating short but intensive time is far more beneficial for children’s emotional attachment.