"The Ministry of Communication and Informatics consistently emphasizes the importance of digital literacy in improving the community's digital competence in using digital media ethically and safely," the ministry's spokesperson, Dedy Permadi, told ANTARA via a short message received here on Thursday.
Permadi noted that digital literacy is not only about digital technical skills but also about digital ethics, digital culture, and digital security or safety.
The spokesman assessed that the high level of digital literacy in society, which is accompanied by a solid digital culture that underscores the importance of ethics and security on the internet, will encourage every individual to use the internet in a positive and empowering manner as a mitigation measure to tackle the spread of violent content on social media.
The spokesperson admitted that it is a shared task for all parties to handle the increasing spread of violent content that involved children and adolescents.
Data released by the Indonesia Internet Service Provider Association (APJII) in 2022 noted that 99.16 percent of adolescents aged 13-18 years and 62.43 percent of children aged 5-12 years were connected to the internet, thereby increasing the likelihood of adolescents and children being exposed to violent content.
To this end, the Ministry of Communication and Informatics continues to strive to protect the public from various content on the internet that violate laws and regulations.
As of the end of May 2022, the ministry has cut off access to 2,885,471 harmful content, whether spread through websites or social media platforms.
In order to bolster the effort, Permadi affirmed that the ministry continues to improve the community's digital literacy through the Digital Literacy National Movement, which targets 5.5 million Indonesians in 2022.
The program is aimed at realizing a safe and productive digital space in Indonesia.
He further explained that parents must don the main role in encouraging the productive use of social media among children and adolescents.
"We appeal to parents to identify the risk of the internet thoroughly and participate in guiding their children in using the internet wisely," he remarked.
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Translator: Fathur Rochman, Raka Adji
Editor: Suharto
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