Indonesia is mulling restrictions on online games, like PUBG, following last week's explosion at a school inside a mosque that wounded nearly 100 people.
President Prabowo Subianto “is considering restricting online games after a student was linked to a school explosion that injured 96 people,” a senior Indonesian official told reporters on Sunday.
Injured people included students and teachers when the explosion hit the school mosque in Jakarta during Friday prayers.
The explosions occurred in North Jakarta's State Senior High School 72 at around 12.30 pm (0530GMT) on Friday.
According to Jakarta Globe news, a student, often bullied by other students, "had allegedly brought a homemade bomb.”
“Officers reportedly discovered a soda can believed to be part of the explosive device. An airsoft-style rifle bearing references to notorious mass shooters was found at the scene,” it added.
“The president said that we need to come up with ways to restrict and find a solution to the negative effects of online games,” said State Secretary Prasetyo Hadi.
“There is a possibility that such games can influence our youth,” he said, adding: “Take PUBG as an example. Players can easily learn the types of weapons. And they will start to normalise violence.”
PUBG is a multiplayer game where teams are parachuted onto an island and fight to the last team standing. Owned by the South Korean company Krafton, it was launched in late 2017. Within months, it shot up the charts, becoming one of the most downloaded games in the world.
Indonesia has over 150 million gamers as of 2023, according to government data.
“Teachers must be more aware if their students show any suspicious signs,” Prasetyo said.
According to the report, “the suspect is still receiving medical treatment as the investigation is underway.”
There have been other instances where online games have been linked to violent acts or used for illicit coordination.
In Pakistan, authorities reported that militants used the popular game PUBG to communicate with each other, creating in-game chat rooms to exchange messages and coordinate activities while avoiding conventional surveillance methods.
In Malaysia, authorities have also raised concerns about the potential influence of online games on youth.
In one recent case, a nine-year-old allegedly attacked his younger brother after losing in a modified version of Roblox, prompting police to investigate the game as a possible trigger.
Experts note that violent games may act as one influence among many, potentially familiarising youth with weapons or normalising violence, but they are rarely a direct cause of such attacks.
Recent research supports this view.
A 2023 survey of 166 game players found that choosing violent games was associated with higher levels of verbal aggression and hostility, particularly when combined with personality traits like narcissism or lower self-esteem, suggesting that violent game play may act as a risk factor rather than a direct cause of serious violence.
Another 2023 experimental study using neuro-measures found that competitive violent games can produce short-term increases in aggressive processing, but these effects were immediate and situational, not evidence of long-term predisposition to major violent acts.
Globally, gaming environments have occasionally been used as tools for radicalisation or coordination by extremist groups, highlighting concerns beyond mere entertainment.
