A football match official is sentenced to one and a half years in prison on Thursday (Mar 9) after he was found guilty of negligence over one of the world's deadliest football games.
To celebrate the day, the country is filled with joyful community game competitions (locally known as lomba tujuhbelasan).
The perpetrator is still at large.
![People play games with their smartphones in Bogor, West Java, on April 24, 2024. [ANTARA FOTO/Yulius Satria Wijaya/aww]](https://media.theindonesia.id/thumbs/2024/04/30/71452-people-play-games-with-their-smartphones-in-bogor-west-java/653x366-img-71452-people-play-games-with-their-smartphones-in-bogor-west-java.jpg)
TheIndonesia.id - The Indonesian Institute of Child Protection (LPAI) Chairman Seto Mulyadi called on the government to give children more protection from the negative impacts of games containing violent content by blocking them.
"The government must be present in enforcing the regulation," Mulyadi noted in his statement on Saturday, as quoted by Antara.
He said that the responsibility of protecting children from the adverse effects of online or mobile games cannot be solely delegated to parents.
"We cannot only give the responsibility to parents because they encounter difficulty in supervising them," he remarked.
The non-government institution also supports the Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI) in urging the government to block games containing violence, such as Free Fire.
"Yes, blocking is necessary since the regulation is already in place," Mulyadi stressed.
He said that all government elements, particularly the Ministry of Communication and Informatics (Kominfo), should address this issue together.
"All government elements, especially Kominfo, must contribute to solving this problem," he emphasized.
Mulyadi explained that the LPAI had proposed a neighborhood-level program called the Child Protection Task Force, aiming to help reduce the negative impacts of games on children.
"This is concerning. That is why the LPAI wanted to form the task force, and it must be strengthened for the recent cases," he said.
The Ministry of Women's Empowerment and Child Protection has stated that games containing violence can be blocked if they do not comply with regulations.
The government is currently preparing a regulation to protect children from the negative impacts of the digital space.
The KPAI earlier stated that online games containing violence, such as Free Fire, or other digital content showing violence, deviant behavior, and online gambling can be blocked based on the ministerial regulation.
