JAKARTA - The House of Representatives (DPR) is discussing a revision of the Broadcasting Law with one of the worrying policy directions, namely expanding the scope of regulation to the realm of the internet and digital platforms. This plan triggers serious concerns from a digital economy perspective, because it has the potential to hinder the growth of the creative industry, suppress innovation, and reduce Indonesia's opportunities to compete in the global market.
In the last decade, Indonesia's digital economy has shown significant growth. The development of streaming platforms, the rise of the independent film industry, and the emergence of millions of digital content creators have created a new ecosystem that allows the production, distribution, and monetization of content to take place more openly and efficiently. The Internet has become the main space for the birth of creative works, as well as an important bridge for local content to penetrate international markets.
The market value of the Indonesian content creator industry, including films and animation, reaches 1000T, with the potential to grow four to five times in the next five years. This figure reflects the real contribution of the digital economy to job creation, empowerment of creators, and strengthening of the knowledge-based economy. In the context of the film industry, the digital space also plays a strategic role.
"Various streaming platforms are now the second income for the Indonesian film industry after screenings in cinemas," said Orchida Ramadhania, a film producer.
The global potential of Indonesia's creative industry is evident from data on digital content consumption. Throughout 2025, more than 90 percent of Netflix customers in Indonesia watch local content, and at least 35 Indonesian shows have made it into the Top 10 Global platform list.
This achievement shows that local Indonesian stories have strong appeal, not only in the domestic market but also internationally. With the support of an open digital ecosystem, Indonesian content has great opportunities to become part of the global cultural flow.
However, this opportunity is threatened by the direction of the revision of the Broadcasting Law which has the potential to bring a strict approach to content control to the internet space. Various drafts and discourses circulating show a tendency to regulate through new licensing mechanisms, normative supervision, and subjective restrictions on expression. This approach may be relevant in the context of conventional broadcasting such as television and radio, but becomes problematic when applied to the internet which is participatory, decentralized, and highly dependent on innovation.
Remotivi researcher, Muhamad Heychael, emphasized that the application of the traditional broadcasting regulation model to the digital realm risks creating business uncertainty.
"If the logic of broadcasting is applied to the internet, the burden of compliance costs can be excessive and difficult to meet, especially for local film production houses, start-ups, and millions of independent creators who have been the backbone of the digital creative economy," he said.
Uncertainty of this kind of regulation has the potential to hold back investment and hinder business expansion into global markets.
Furthermore, the expansion of the Broadcasting Law to the internet also risks sending a negative signal to international investors and global technology industry players. When internet regulations move towards strict and disproportionate content control, Indonesia can be perceived as a country with high regulatory risk. This perception is contrary to the government's ambition to make the digital economy the main engine of national economic growth and to position Indonesia as a center of creative industries in the region.
From a global perspective, countries that have managed to push their creative industries onto the world stage have developed adaptive regulatory frameworks, not rigid content controls. If Indonesia takes the opposite path, then the opportunities for local creators to compete globally can become narrower.
Therefore, the DPR needs to review the approach in revising the Broadcasting Law.
"Internet and digital platform regulations should be placed in a governance framework that is different from conventional broadcasting, emphasizing the protection of freedom of expression, legal certainty, and support for innovation," said Bayu Wardhana, Secretary General of the Independent Journalists Alliance (AJI).
Without free creative space and proportionate regulations, it is difficult to imagine the Indonesian creative industry being able to develop and compete globally.
Instead of expanding the Broadcasting Law, policymakers need to focus on strengthening regulations that are in line with the characteristics of the digital economy and the long-term development vision. Without caution, the revision of the Broadcasting Law has the potential to become a brake on the sector, which has long been one of the main hopes for national economic growth as well as Indonesia's entry into the world's creative industry stage.
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