jakarta. The government is finalizing draft regulations aimed at protecting children from the potential harms of video games, in response to growing concerns around criminal activity such as violence, pornography, sexual abuse and bullying. There is.
“Progress is being harmonized across ministries, agencies and local authorities to avoid duplication of their respective mandates, functions and powers. Fortunately, the goal is to complete this year.” '', said the Ministry's Special Undersecretary for Child Protection. Women Empowerment and Child Protection Thursday Nahar.
Mr. Nahar emphasized that violent video games have a negative impact on the mental and behavioral development of children and adolescents. He pledged to take measures such as potentially blocking games like Free Fire, known for its first-person shooter format, and to continually monitor gaming content, especially content containing violence.
“The implications are wide-ranging and highly complex. The risks faced include content, behavior, physical contact, and consumer behavior. Content is not aligned with children's age categories. Free Fire “Children should be monitored, taking into account the risk of developing behaviors that may be dangerous and impactful,” Nahal said.
Indonesia introduced the Indonesia Game Rating System (IGRS) in 2016, providing guidelines for categorizing game content according to specific age groups. This categorizes electronic interactive games into different age groups such as 3+, 7+, 13+, 18+, AA, etc. For all age groups.
However, this regulation is currently suspended in connection with the enactment of Regulation No. 2/2024 of the Minister of Communications and Information on the classification of games.
According to psychologist Steny Prawitasari, violent video games, especially online games, pose a risk to children's mental and emotional health.
“Games like Free Fire contain scenes of intense violence, including combat and the use of weapons. Repeated playing of these games makes children less aware of the real consequences of violent acts. It can be desensitizing,” she says.
Competitive environments, such as games in the battle royale genre, make children more vulnerable to aggressive behavior, such as using foul language or expressing anger when losing a game.
These games can also cause delays in children's social development and communication skills.
Mr Steney said the government needed to pay more serious attention to the issue of the impact of online gaming on children.
“To protect future generations from potential negative effects, we need to strengthen access restrictions and monitoring of game content that contains violence and is inappropriate for children's ages,” she concluded.
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