Framing the Regulatory State: Media Contestation Between Legitimacy and Resistance in Indonesian Children's Social Media Governance

Santiani Santiani; Teguh Priyo Sadono

doi:10.55927/eajmr.v5i7.216

Authors

Santiani Santiani Universitas 17 Agustus 1945 Surabaya
Teguh Priyo Sadono Universitas 17 Agustus 1945 Surabaya

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.55927/eajmr.v5i7.216

Keywords:

framing analysis, PP TUNAS, childrens digital rights, media political economy, digital governance

Abstract

This study examines how three leading Indonesian online news outlets Kompas.com, Detik.com, and Tempo.co frame Government Regulation No. 17/2025 (PP TUNAS), Indonesias most comprehensive legislative instrument affecting approximately 70 million users under 16 years of age. the study identifies three distinct framing configurations. Kompas.com employs a normative-cognitive legitimacy frame, constructing PP TUNAS as empirically justified and morally appropriate. Detik.com applies a pragmatic-informative legitimacy frame, normalizing the regulation through procedural coverage without explicit resistance narratives. Tempo.co develops a critical-investigative resistance frame during the policy formation phase, shifting toward a balanced critical-constructive frame during implementation a pattern theorized as legitimacy migration from value-level to performance-level contestation. Framing divergence is shaped by ownership structures, editorial traditions, and political-economic positioning, extending framing theory and critical media studies in the Global South context.

References

Adiprasetio, J., & Larasati, A. W. (2021). Pandemic crisis in online media: Quantitative framing analysis on Detik.coms coverage of Covid-19. JSP: Jurnal Ilmu Sosial dan Ilmu Politik, 24(2), 153–170. https://doi.org/10.22146/jsp.56457

Asosiasi Penyelenggara Jasa Internet Indonesia. (2024). Survei penetrasi internet Indonesia 2024. APJII.

Badan Pusat Statistik. (2024). Profil anak Indonesia 2024. BPS RI.

Berger, P. L., & Luckmann, T. (1966). The social construction of reality: A treatise in the sociology of knowledge. Anchor Books.

Bourdieu, P. (1991). Language and symbolic power. Harvard University Press.

Castells, M. (2009). Communication power. Oxford University Press.

De Vreese, C. H. (2005). News framing: Theory and typology. Information Design Journal + Document Design, 13(1), 51–62. https://doi.org/10.1075/idjdd.13.1.06vre

ECPAT, INTERPOL, & UNICEF. (2022). Disrupting harm in Indonesia: Evidence on online child sexual exploitation and abuse. Global Partnership to End Violence Against Children.

Entman, R. M. (1993). Framing: Toward clarification of a fractured paradigm. Journal of Communication, 43(4), 51–58. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.1993.tb01304.x

Flew, T. (2021). Regulating platforms. Polity Press.

Flew, T., Martin, F., & Suzor, N. (2019). Internet regulation as media policy: Rethinking the question of digital communication platform governance. Journal of Digital Media & Policy, 10(1), 33–50. https://doi.org/10.1386/jdmp.10.1.33_1

Fraser, N. (1990). Rethinking the public sphere: A contribution to the critique of actually existing democracy. Social Text, 25/26, 56–80.

Goffman, E. (1974). Frame analysis: An essay on the organization of experience. Harvard University Press.

Gorwa, R. (2019). What is platform governance? Information, Communication & Society, 22(6), 854–871. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2019.1573914

Grafström, M., & Windell, K. (2012). Newcomers conserving the old: Transformation processes in the field of news journalism. Journalism Studies, 13(5–6), 759–772. https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2012.664319

Habermas, J. (1989). The structural transformation of the public sphere: An inquiry into a category of bourgeois society (T. Burger, Trans.). MIT Press. (Original work published 1962)

JMIR. (2025). Adolescent cyberbullying and cyber victimization: Longitudinal study before and during COVID-19. Journal of Medical Internet Research. https://doi.org/10.2196/70508

Komisi Perlindungan Anak Indonesia. (2025). Laporan tahunan KPAI 2024. KPAI.

Kementerian Komunikasi dan Digital. (2025). Sosialisasi PP No. 17/2025 tentang PP TUNAS. Komdigi.

Lim, M. (2012). The league of thirteen: Media concentration in Indonesia. Participatory Media Lab / Arizona State University.

Lincoln, Y. S., & Guba, E. G. (1985). Naturalistic inquiry. SAGE Publications.

Livingstone, S., & Third, A. (2017). Children and the internet in a global context: Challenges for research and policy. Theory, Culture & Society, 34(7–8), 157–176. https://doi.org/10.1177/0263276417717009

Lyon, D. (2001). Surveillance society: Monitoring everyday life. Open University Press.

Matthes, J. (2012). Framing politics: An integrative approach. American Behavioral Scientist, 56(3), 247–259. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764211426324

Mendez, R., et al. (2024). Digital media in early childhood: Risk factors for online harm and psychosocial correlates. Frontiers in Developmental Psychology, 2. https://doi.org/10.3389/fdpys.2024.1390276

Murdock, G., & Golding, P. (2005). Culture, communications and political economy. In J. Curran & M. Gurevitch (Eds.), Mass media and society (4th ed., pp. 60–83). Hodder Arnold.

Pan, Z., & Kosicki, G. M. (1993). Framing analysis: An approach to news discourse. Political Communication, 10(1), 55–75. https://doi.org/10.1080/10584609.1993.9962963

Patton, M. Q. (2002). Qualitative research and evaluation methods (3rd ed.). SAGE Publications.

Peraturan Pemerintah Republik Indonesia Nomor 17 Tahun 2025 tentang Tata Kelola Penyelenggaraan Sistem Elektronik dalam Perlindungan Anak (PP TUNAS). (2025). Sekretariat Negara RI.

Peraturan Menteri Komunikasi dan Digital Nomor 9 Tahun 2026 tentang Perlindungan Anak di Ruang Digital. (2026). Kementerian Komunikasi dan Digital RI.

PMC / NIH. (2024). Effects of social media use on youth and adolescent mental health: A scoping review of reviews. PubMed Central. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12108867/

Saleem, N., Young, P., & Yousuf, S. (2024). Exploring the relationship between social media use and symptoms of depression and anxiety among children and adolescents: A systematic narrative review. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2023.0456

Santos, R. M. S., Mendes, C. G., Bressani, G. Y. S., Ventura, S. A., Nogueira, Y. J. A., Miranda, D. M., & Romano-Silva, M. A. (2023). The associations between screen time and mental health in adolescents: A systematic review. BMC Psychology, 11, Article 1166. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-023-01166-7

Scheufele, D. A. (1999). Framing as a theory of media effects. Journal of Communication, 49(1), 103–122. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.1999.tb02784.x

Steele, J. (2011). Journalism and trauma in Indonesia: A newsroom study of reporting about women and sexual violence. Journalism Studies, 12(4), 393–406. https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2010.525548

Suchman, M. C. (1995). Managing legitimacy: Strategic and institutional approaches. Academy of Management Review, 20(3), 571–610. https://doi.org/10.2307/258788

Syavica, Z., Sahlepi, M. A., & Rahmayanti. (2026). The crime of child grooming as digital sexual harassment in the perspective of perpetrator accountability according to laws and regulations in Indonesia. Journal of Research in Social Science and Humanities. https://www.jrssh.org/index.php/jrssh/article/view/531

Tapsell, R. (2017). Media power in Indonesia: Oligarchs, citizens and the digital revolution. Rowman & Littlefield International.

Third, A., Collin, P., Walsh, L., & Black, R. (2019). Young people in digital society: Control shift. Palgrave Macmillan.

Tuchman, G. (1978). Making news: A study in the construction of reality. Free Press.

Vaara, E., Tienari, J., & Laurila, J. (2006). Pulp and paper fiction: On the discursive legitimation of global industrial restructuring. Organization Studies, 27(6), 789–813. https://doi.org/10.1177/0170840606061071

Van Gorp, B. (2007). The constructionist approach to framing: Bringing culture back in. Journal of Communication, 57(1), 60–78. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.2006.00329.x

Van Leeuwen, T. (2007). Legitimation in discourse and communication. Discourse & Communication, 1(1), 91–112. https://doi.org/10.1177/1750481307071986