Indonesia Still Lacks in Digital Safety and Ethics

The Katadata Insight Center (KIC) and the Communications and Information Ministry (Kominfo) conducted a survey on 2021 Indonesia Digital Literacy Status involving 10 thousand respondents aged 13-70 years in 524 regencies/cities in Indonesia. The result showed that the Indonesian Digital Literacy Index was only at 3.49 points or in the medium category, based on an index score scale of 0-5. The figure was only 0.02 points higher than that of 2020 at 3.47 points. There were four crucial components determining the Indonesian Digital Literacy Index calculation. Indonesia’s Digital Culture got the highest score, at 3.9 points, followed by Digital Ethics (3.55 points), Digital Skills (3.44 points), and Digital Safety (3.1 points). The survey used multistage random sampling with a home visit technique in the survey area on October 4-24, 2021.

Katadata Insight Center (KIC) expert Mulya Amri said the four pillars referred to the 2020-2024 Indonesia Digital Literacy Roadmap compiled by the Communications and Information Ministry based on previous research and similar measurements from UNESCO. When compared to the 2020 Digital Literacy Index, there was an increase in the index from 3.46 to 3.49. Improvements occurred in the Digital Culture and Digital Skills pillars, but there was a decline in the Digital Ethics and Digital Safety pillars. The pillar of Digital Safety that gets the lowest score deserves particular attention since it means that many respondents are still unable to protect themselves in cyberspace. "We found that, for example, there are still many who are not aware of the dangers in uploading personal data," Mulya said on Thursday.