KPAI Walk Out After Losing Argument About Blocking Game

As we already know, the KPAI had issued the following controversial statement, “In total, there are 22 violent games that will be blocked, apart from that there are some pornographic ones that are also inserted. Meanwhile, 15 have been blocked, including GTA (Grand Theft Auto). said Erlinda, Secretary General of KPAI.

Actually, in October last year, the Directorate of Information Industry Empowerment of the Ministry of Communication and Information (Kemkominfo) had issued a Draft Ministerial Regulation (RPM) regarding the Classification of Indonesian Electronic Interactive Games or better known as the Indonesian Online Game Rating System. This design then gave rise to many pros and cons, one of which received quite scathing criticism from the Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI). In the official statement issued, it appears that KPAI does not understand correctly the purpose of this rating system, and rejects the entire contents of the draft because it is considered not to protect children and legalize acts of violence from an early age.

Public Discussion with KPAI

To straighten this out, in November and December 2021, representatives from the Ministry of Communication and Information and the Indonesian Game Association (AGI) met directly with KPAI representatives, namely the Nawala Nusantara Foundation, and the Mothers and Fruits Foundation. The purpose of this meeting is to discuss the results of the public test of the Indonesian Rating Game System.

This public test discussion was carried out in two stages. First, the discussion was held on November 23, 2021, and the second was held on December 2, 2021. In general, this discussion discussed a lot of misunderstandings between KPAI and the formulators of the Indonesian Rating Game System, and tried to straighten out the views of each. party.

In their discussion, KPAI remained adamant in their initial opinion, where they considered that the average age of children was under 18 years old, not being grouped anymore as stated in the RPM of the Indonesian Game Rating System, because they refer to the law on child protection. national and international. KPAI considers that games should accommodate the needs of children in the online world to play and find information.

But unfortunately, at such a young age, children are still not able to filter the incoming information, so the role of adults is needed. If we look further, the actual age of children according to the law is also different. Some are under 18 years old like child protection law, some are 15 years old and under like labor law.

Game Classification According to KPAI

Furthermore, KPAI admitted to being surprised after seeing the RPM offered by the Ministry of Communication and Information, because the Indonesian Game Rating System classifies games based on content and age. They argue that in some developed countries such as Singapore and the United States, they base the classification of games based on the character and culture of the people.

Whereas as we know, in other countries that already have their own rating system, the classification already uses age, such as the ESRB (United States) and PEGI (European Union) which are the references for the Indonesian Rating Game System.

KPAI believes that children are currently vulnerable to the large amount of information and games that enter because they are faced with a free market. Moreover, they are not always accompanied by their parents (because of work or other reasons) and are cared for by caregivers whose education is not as high as that of their parents. After studying this RPM, KPAI was concerned that the content and age-based classification would not be able to answer these problems.

In addition, KPAI also hopes that the Ministry of Communication and Information will dare to block game content that is not friendly to children, because games cannot be cut (censored) like movies. KPAI itself admits not to reject this RPM, it’s just that the principles of thinking together from the beginning need to be improved by cooperating with several parties involved, because they consider this RPM to accommodate acts of violence, alcohol and other adult content in games.

Differences in Opinion of AGI and Kemkominfo

Responding to several questions from KPAI, Luat Sihombing from the Ministry of Communication and Information reiterated that this rating system is only for education and a kind of warning, that a game contains content A, B, and so on, and who is allowed to consume it. With this information, this RPM does not mean to accommodate. In fact, this is a warning, that the dangerous content is in the game, and is made with simpler information so that it is easy for ordinary people to understand.

If it continues to be delayed, in how many years will we be able to have a law for the game. So, the Ministry of Communication and Information has made the right first step with this classification, because the flow of incoming information is getting faster. Only limited to classification and warning, not to the point of banning the entry of games because the state does not yet have a solid basis for it.

Ami Raditya who represents AGI added that this game is like a movie, so it must be classified in the same way and method, namely through content and age. After that, Ami also agreed that an ongoing socialization program was needed for parents. Ami then asked, that if the classification does not use age and content, which method should be used properly? Regarding KPAI’s assumption that Indonesia does not need to “join” with other countries that have conducted research, Ami refuted this assumption.

He revealed that the preparation of the Indonesian Rating Game System had carried out research, so that it was in accordance with our culture and culture. Examples in the ESRB kissing become consumption even in games that are classified for teenagers, because it is considered not a taboo. Well, in the Indonesian Game Rating System, this is regulated more deeply and the game content containing the kiss is classified as only being consumed by adults. With the classification based on content and age, it is easier to understand for people who will consume it.

From the developer side, Kris Antoni and Arief Widhiyasa revealed a few examples for KPAI, where the Indonesian Game Rating System is not only beneficial for the consumer community, but can also be a guideline for Indonesian game developers.

An example is setting up a special application in the application store to classify games from Indonesian developers that already fit this classification. The goal, this can be a reference for parents who want to find games for their children, as well as educate them.

Finally KPAI Walk Out

Although there have been many objections, unfortunately KPAI is still steadfast in their opinion, that the classification is wrong when referring to national and international child protection laws. If the classification continues to be implemented, it means that the law is no longer recognized and that is a major setback. They hope that the government can block incoming game content, for fear that children are addicted to playing games for adults.

This first public test still shows that KPAI still adheres to their previous decision to reject the existence of this RPM because they insist on the child protection law which states that all children are under the age of 18. In the second public test, several child psychologists were present who explained the differences in the mental and cognitive development of children by age, ranging from 3, 7, 10, 13 to 18 years.

Even though it has received this explanation, KPAI still insists on 18 years as a benchmark. In fact, because the majority of those present rejected the KPAI’s assumption, the KPAI walked out of the discussion room! This action was criticized by the legal experts who were present, and stated that by walking out of the KPAI and not wanting to understand the reality on the ground, it showed that the KPAI did not fight for child protection.

It’s not just KPAI who seem unwilling to see the reality on the ground, the Nawala Nusantara Foundation, represented by its Executive Director, M. Yamin, also seems to not understand the function and purpose of the Indonesian Rating Game System and often have different opinions.

One of them was when discussing whether or not there were in app purchases in children’s games, they asked that children’s games not have in app purchases at all. Interestingly, they use the Poker game as an example, which their children often play and often “concede” transactions. You see, Poker games are not for kids, right?

From there, the team that formulated the Indonesian Game Rating System issued a “backlash” to KPAI, and stated that this system was needed so that parents would know which games were for adults and which games were for children.

The example of the Poker game is wrong, because the Poker game is an adult game, so there is no protection against in-app purchase transactions, players are free to buy whatever they want. So parents should know and not allow their children to play this Poker game!

Conclusion of Public Test Discussion

From this discussion itself, it can be seen that indeed the parties who seem to “reject” the presence of this RPM still lack knowledge about the game and its ins and outs. Unfortunately, until this article was written, there has been no response and further action from KPAI after walking out in the discussion of the public test.

Of course, we deeply regret the action of KPAI who walked out and seemed unwilling to accept input and the reality on the ground. The legal experts present also regretted this, and said that by walking out, KPAI did not show that they were “protecting” children.

List of Dangerous Games Version Kemendikbud RI

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