By Nandito Putra

Copyright tempo

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – The Indonesian Ministry of Communication and Digital Technology (Komdigi) has opened the option of implementing face and fingerprint scans as a requirement for activating social media accounts. This step is considered a solution to the problem of owning and controlling multiple social media accounts anonymously.The ministry’s secretary-general, Ismail, said that this mechanism is expected to encourage individuals to take responsibility for their activities on social media. He mentioned that a strong digital identification mechanism is required, such as using a digital ID equipped with facial, fingerprint, or other biometric verifications.”By doing so, people will remain themselves when entering the digital space. This tool can encourage responsibility and minimize misuse,” said Ismail during a discussion with journalists at the Ministry’s office in Central Jakarta on Friday, September 19, 2025.However, Ismail stressed that this idea is still in the discussion stage. He stated that the government continues to discuss various options that could effectively execute the plan.Previously, the plan to limit the ownership of social media accounts sparked controversy in recent times. This was first triggered by a statement from Oleh Soleh, a member of the House of Representatives (DPR) Commission I, on Wednesday, July 15, 2025.In a meeting with several representatives of social media platform companies, he proposed that social media platforms limit account ownership. According to him, multiple accounts are often misused for purposes that harm the public.”Whether it’s on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, these multiple social media accounts are often misused and do not bring benefits to the public or the original users,” he said.On the other hand, it is undeniable that using multiple accounts may benefit the platform. However, he argued that the negative impact is greater. “In general, I think 100 percent of these multiple accounts actually pose a threat and even cause damage,” said the politician from the National Awakening Party.He cited the widespread emergence of fake accounts, or ‘buzzers’, due to the unlimited number of accounts on social media. “The consequences of these ‘buzzers’ are that unqualified people become famous, become artists, become superstars, and they even surpass qualified individuals, which is very damaging,” he said.However, some observers believe that this idea is misguided and could limit freedom of expression. Shita Laksmi, the supervisor of SAFEnet, argued that having multiple accounts is not necessarily a bad thing.She said that netizens often use them for personal expression, selling, or specific jobs. On the other hand, she cautioned that validation with national identity numbers would contradict the principle of personal data protection, as has happened with prepaid SIM card registrations. “Only the necessary data should be collected,” she said.Annisa Febiola contributed to the writing of this articleEditor’s Choice: Indonesian Police Name Seven Suspects for Provocation, Incitement on Social Media Leading to RiotsClick here to get the latest news updates from Tempo on Google News