Polri Urged to Work With TikTok, Meta to Curb Brawl Livestreams

Calls Grow for Faster Action Against Social Media Content Promoting Street Brawls

Tempatdonasi.com – Indonesian authorities are being urged to pair street-level enforcement with quicker action against social media accounts that broadcast or encourage violent confrontations among young people.

Ahmad Sahroni, deputy chair of the House of Representatives’ Commission III, said the National Police, or Polri, and the Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs, known as Komdigi, should coordinate with major platforms including TikTok and Meta. The aim, he said, is to prevent livestreams and posts from being used to provoke street brawls or turn violence into online entertainment.

The concern is not limited to footage recorded after an incident. Sahroni highlighted the risk posed by content that appears to organize, promote, or build anticipation for confrontations before they happen. In such cases, he said, authorities should move quickly to restrict the account and identify the people responsible.

If it is detected, immediately block the account, then trace who is behind it.

His remarks underline how street violence can extend beyond the location where it takes place. A brawl may involve a limited group of people on the ground, but a livestream can distribute the event to a much wider audience in real time. That visibility can magnify the impact of violent behavior and may make it easier for others to imitate or encourage it.

Online Content and Offline Enforcement

Sahroni said platforms should not provide room for accounts displaying violent conduct. He also warned that repeated exposure to such material could have a harmful influence on younger viewers, particularly when fights are presented as spectacle, rivalry, or something worth sharing for attention.

Police have continued to pursue people involved in brawls in public spaces. However, Sahroni argued that enforcement after violence occurs must be supported by efforts to address the digital activity that can help trigger new incidents.

Police work hard to crack down on perpetrators on the ground, but their violent content becomes an inspiration for new perpetrators in other areas. So this brawl problem will never end.

The proposed approach would require several institutions to work across their respective roles. Police can investigate suspected criminal conduct and locate people involved in planned violence. Komdigi can take part in efforts concerning online content and communication with digital services. Social media companies, meanwhile, control the systems that can remove, limit, or review accounts and livestreams that breach their rules or are linked to harmful activity.

The practical challenge is speed. Livestreamed content can circulate while an event is still developing, leaving a narrow window for detection and intervention. Fast reporting channels, platform moderation, cyber monitoring, and clear coordination between authorities may all affect whether content is stopped before it contributes to an offline confrontation.

Teenagers Detained in Bogor

The issue drew fresh attention after police detained 17 teenagers suspected of preparing for a brawl near Kilometer 51 of the Jakarta-Bogor Highway in Sukaraja, Bogor Regency.

Sukaraja Police Chief AKP Ade Rahmat said on Wednesday, September 16, that the teenagers were taken into custody while they were waiting for their opposing group. Before the detention, the group had livestreamed on Instagram.

The livestream was identified by the Bogor Police cyber team, which relayed information about the group’s location to officers. The case illustrates the role that online monitoring can play when digital activity provides clues about a possible confrontation in the physical world.

In this instance, the livestream did more than circulate images: it helped alert authorities to a gathering that police believed was connected to a planned brawl. The intervention also reflects the importance of distinguishing between content that merely records an event and material that may be used to arrange, incite, or publicize imminent violence.

Preventing Violence Before It Spreads

Sahroni’s call places prevention at the center of the response. Blocking suspected accounts and tracing their operators, he said, should accompany police operations against people participating in brawls. The objective is to reduce both the immediate threat of violence and the online circulation that can encourage similar actions elsewhere.

For families, schools, communities, and young social media users, the wider message is that livestreams are not separate from real-world consequences. Content uploaded in moments of conflict can reach audiences instantly, preserve evidence of unlawful behavior, expose locations, and intensify hostility between groups.

Authorities face the task of responding firmly while ensuring that action is directed at accounts and activity connected to violence. Cooperation between law enforcement, communications authorities, and platform operators is being presented as an essential part of preventing brawls from gaining momentum online before they spill onto the streets.