Civilization in the digital world that continues to evolve has resulted in consequences for the growth in the number of internet users, including minors. According to the report of the Central Statistics Agency for the period 2020-2023, the percentage of children in Indonesia who have used cellphones is 36.99%, of which 25.9% are open to gaining access to the internet. [1] The data shows that the majority of children in Indonesia use the internet to facilitate their activities. However, what happens if the use of the internet is used for inappropriate things and backfires on the child himself.
Openness in accessing the internet allows various levels of society to be given the same opportunity for it. [2] This phenomenon allows internet users to freely utilize the features in it, including to communicate with minors. Family support for children's activities on social media is indeed a demand that cannot be ignored. Many social media platforms do not require their users to reveal their real identities. By relying on anonymity and the absence of parental figures in the digital space, it has unknowingly opened up opportunities for sexual predators to lead children into electronic-based sexual violence.
The Ministry of Women's Empowerment and Child Protection (Kemen PPPA) has introduced several types of Electronic-Based Sexual Violence (KSBE), one of which is cyber grooming. Indonesia itself does not yet have a specific regulation that can define cyber grooming. However, if we look at the definition given by the Kemen PPPA, cyber grooming can be interpreted as sexual violence committed by adults against children under the age of 18 using a gradual psychological manipulation method to make the child feel comfortable so that it can be escalated into sexual relations either directly or facilitated by cyber media. [3]
This definition contributed by the Ministry of PPPA is expected to correct misconceptions in society in interpreting grooming. A common mistake when interpreting this type of crime is assuming that the main problem lies in the age gap between the parties in the relationship. In fact, the concern here is the involvement of minors in the relationship. This means that what needs to be emphasized in grooming is not how far the age gap is between the parties in the relationship but whether or not there is someone who falls into the minor category in the relationship.
The prohibition called for adults to build connectivity with minors is unquestionable. The mental readiness and rationality of children that have not been fully formed make them not fully aware of the consequences of the relationship they are in. This certainly increases the opportunity for adults to play with the child's psychology because they have greater control in the relationship. Even though this relationship is carried out on the basis of mutual consent, it is questionable whether the more mature thinking and significant age gap of adults have influenced the decisions made by the child.
The increasingly widespread crime of grooming is also caused by the skill of groomers (groomers) in determining their targets. The biggest factor considered by groomers in choosing their victims is the physical attractiveness of the child. [4] This factor is usually adjusted to existing beauty standards or the groomer's personal preferences. The next factor that groomers consider is the child's freedom to access social media. Children who are not restricted by their parents in using the internet make it easier for them to access any content and communicate with anyone, thus facilitating the groomer's efforts to contact the child. [5]
Another consideration for groomers in choosing their victims is the level of vulnerability of the child. Basically, children are classified as a vulnerable group because they have a high level of dependence on others to meet their living needs. Groomers' efforts to measure how vulnerable a child is are usually done through online communication or through findings obtained from the habit of sharing personal information on social media. This is because people often forget that using the internet connects them to each other, including sexual predators.
Through online communication, groomers can find out what the child's needs are so they can identify the most effective way to fill the gap. Groomers can play their role as a figure who can be relied on to meet the child's needs for a role that has never been obtained before. This kind of tactic has been proven effective in confusing the child's judgment in making decisions that will ultimately benefit the groomer's personal interests. When the child is emotionally attached, the groomer can begin to arouse their curiosity about sexual matters that he slips into their conversations. [6]
At this point the groomer will start to persuade the child to send personal photos or invite them to meet in person. Children who are already dependent on the groomer will consider these requests as a way to perpetuate their relationship. Children who are victims of grooming will most likely never reveal the events they experienced because of the fear of abandonment that has been instilled by the groomer since the relationship began. This happens because the child's environment has been reorganized in such a way as to make it easier for the groomer to carry out sexual violence while minimizing rejection from the child. Although the pattern of grooming is not always the same, the series of events above can provide an illustration in understanding how the concept of grooming can occur. [7]
The digitalization process that is increasingly being called for but not accompanied by firm steps from the government in combating electronic-based sexual violence has shaken the value of legal certainty in society. Therefore, this study will thoroughly examine the urgency of criminalizing cyber grooming while formulating a more adequate legal construction to overcome the latest form of sexual crime.
In compiling this scientific article, the research method chosen is the normative research method using a comparative approach to determine the legal framework governing cyber grooming in Indonesia and other countries. The data sources used include primary legal materials that are binding such as laws and regulations. In addition to primary legal materials, there are also secondary legal materials used to explain primary legal materials such as scientific articles, internet materials, theories and expert opinions, and other scientific writings.
Nowadays, the technological revolution has offered many benefits in various areas of life while simultaneously bringing threats of losses that can harm the welfare of society. One of the negative impacts brought by the growth of technology is the increasingly varied use of grooming methods in sexual crimes. The use of grooming methods is widely implemented when recruiting minors to work in online prostitution networks. Online child prostitution can be interpreted as the offering of sexual services with the provision of compensation in the form of money or other forms that utilize children as workers through online media.
Prostitution crimes targeting minors are indeed closely related to the grooming mode. This is because, in prostitution pimps often use psychological manipulation tactics to facilitate sexual activity with children. This study will analyze one case of online prostitution that uses the grooming mode in its implementation. This case occurred in Purwokerto where it was carried out by someone with the initials RW. RW is a pimp who provides child sexual services by utilizing Facebook social media as a means of promotion. The form of promotion carried out by RW is in the form of providing a link to make an order for sexual services.
This case began when a girl with the initials ES saw a job vacancy on RW's Facebook social media platform. ES, who was interested, then contacted RW and continued the conversation via WhatsApp. RW explained to ES that the job he was offering was an Open BO with a part-time work system. After initial communication via WhatsApp, RW scheduled a meeting with ES at an inn in Banyumas Regency. During the meeting, ES was accompanied by her friend with the initials MN. Before meeting with RW, ES had explained to MN that the purpose of this meeting was to conduct an interview as a prospective worker providing sexual services.
Upon arrival at the location, RW welcomed ES and MN while explaining the work system and wage distribution mechanism for the job. ES, who accepted various provisions from RW, was given an additional requirement to have sex with RW first as a pretext to prepare her before giving it to the customer. That day, MN only came along to accompany ES. Ten days later, ES, who was still accompanied by MN, met RW again at the same location to do her job. After ES was moved to the room to serve the customer, MN waited with RW.
At this time, RW began to approach MN by inviting her to talk and persuade her to work as a provider of sexual services by offering high pay and other supporting facilities. As a result of the persuasion launched by RW, MN finally agreed to work for Open BO and was given the same conditions as ES, namely having sexual relations with RW first. As a result of his actions, RW was sentenced to 3 (three) years in prison and a fine of Rp. 10,000,000 based on the ITE Law.
Based on the description above, it is revealed that the grooming mode does affect the success of pimps in ensnaring children into online prostitution schemes. The grooming mode in the case above is divided into several stages. The first stage begins with the publication of sexual content. This stage was carried out by RW by uploading Open BO job vacancies on his social media. RW admitted that he did target minors for prostitution by using persuasion, trickery, and the lure of additional money. RW also tends to prioritize offering minors to his clients. In fact, prostitution has been categorized as the worst type of work for children. RW's actions were driven by the concept of supply and demand, namely to meet the high demand for sexual services performed by children. [8]
The second stage is the initiation of physical contact. Although in this case ES took the initiative to contact RW through his social media, RW who responded to this and continued the conversation to engage in sexual activity can still be classified as a series of grooming acts. The third stage is scheduling a meeting. RW's actions in arranging a meeting with the child to engage in sexual activity either with himself or with others are a form of grooming. Even though this act was based on mutual consent, ES and MN did not yet have the age of consent to provide legal consent, especially for commercialized sexual activity.
The fourth stage is building relationships and risk assessment.
In their statements, ES and MN explained that the reason they worked
as sexual service providers was the financial pressure on their
families. MN then told RW about this condition so that he could
pretend to provide emotional support for the problems faced by the
victim while measuring how easy it was to direct them to get
involved in
The final stage is the element of seduction or persuasion. Both of these elements are clearly visible in RW's efforts to insist on getting MN to agree to work as a provider of sexual services in order to cover her family's economic shortcomings. Therefore, it can be concluded that the grooming mode was successfully integrated in this case. It is important to emphasize that not all grooming cases will meet all of these stages completely and sequentially. In several other cases, it was found that groomers could skip one or more stages at once to still achieve their final goal, namely engaging in sexual activity with children. [9]
The implementation of Law Number 1 of 2024 concerning the Second Amendment to Law Number 11 of 2008 concerning Information and Electronic Transactions is the main basis for trying cyber grooming crimes. In fact, the article in the ITE Law is considered less appropriate for handling this type of cyber grooming crime because it focuses more on violations of morality which are relatively minor compared to serious violations of psychological manipulation of children. This is proven by the verdict handed down to RW which only focused on the act of providing links for the promotion of prostitution and did not look at the violations of child rights protection that occurred in this case. [10]
In fact, the ITE Law itself has offered more capable legal protection to trap perpetrators of child exploitation crimes in cases that occur in the electronic sphere. This provision can be found in Article 52 paragraph (1) of the ITE Law which stipulates that perpetrators of crimes targeting minors can be given a 1/3 increase in the principal penalty. However, it is very unfortunate that this provision is not applied to criminalize RW's actions.
In addition to the ITE Law, the presence of Law Number 12 of 2022 concerning Criminal Acts of Sexual Violence has brought new breakthroughs in dealing with the development of sexual crimes in a more comprehensive manner. Groomers often argue that their actions were carried out on the basis of "mutual consent". In fact, this concept can only be accepted if all parties involved in the relationship have the capability to give consent to sexual activity. Therefore, the TPKS Law emphasizes that the consent given by child victims of KSBE has no legal value so that this argument cannot eliminate the criminal charges.
However, the TPKS Law still has weaknesses in that it does not clearly define the types of KSBE, especially cyber grooming. In addition, the formulation of the articles regulated in the TPKS Law requires that sexual activity must have occurred first in order to be processed criminally. This shows that the TPKS Law does not include anticipatory steps to prevent forms of sexual violence that often target minors. The forms of KSBE in the TPKS Law are still very limited, ranging from recording sexual content, transmitting sexual content, and electronic stalking or tracking for sexual purposes. This makes the crimes committed by RW not meet the formulation of the articles in the TPKS Law.
Another weakness of the TPKS Law is the absence of a connecting article that requires KSBE cases to be processed based on this regulation. As a result, many law enforcement officers still prefer to use the ITE Law in handling KSBE cases because it is considered to have a broader scope even though they are aware that the formulation of the article tends to ignore the aspect of legal protection for vulnerable groups such as children and women. [11]
Another regulation that is often used in dealing with cyber grooming is Law Number 17 of 2016 concerning the Second Amendment to Law Number 23 of 2002 concerning Child Protection. Grooming itself has begun when a relationship is carried out on the basis of trickery, a series of lies, or persuasion to commit or allow indecent acts to be committed against children according to Article 76E of the UUPA. However, these elements are not regulated for criminalization without proof of sexual harassment and do not regulate their implementation online. This is very unfortunate because the UUPA is a regulation that offers the harshest sanctions for child sexual crimes, but because it is still limited to physical crimes, it cannot be applied to criminalize RW's actions.
Furthermore, Article 66 of the UUPA has included a definition of economic exploitation which in the RW case is interpreted as "actions with or without the child's consent including but not limited to prostitution". The phrase with or without consent here indicates that even though the child gives acceptance to commit prostitution, the act is still included in the type of economic exploitation that can be punished. The groomers cannot deny that the child was the first to contact them to commit prostitution, because in the process the pimp still makes enticements as a representation of the grooming aspect in the case.
The RW case above is just a small excerpt from the many cyber grooming cases in Indonesia. The lack of regulation has left law enforcement officers overwhelmed in containing cybercrime. The RW case proves that grooming cannot be equated with sexual harassment, but rather leads to psychological manipulation processes that result in sexual harassment of children. There needs to be regulation that focuses on prevention and early detection scenarios to combat cyber grooming. Therefore, it is urgent for the government to formulate a cyber grooming legal construction by adopting provisions in other countries that are seen as having successfully combated electronic-based sexual violence more ideally. [6]
Indonesia has declared itself as a country of law as stipulated in the 1945 Constitution. This has consequences for the state to preserve the welfare of its citizens through regulations that guarantee legal certainty. The principle of legal certainty itself refers to the validity of clear laws and is not interfered with by subjective matters. Basically, every legal rule that is formulated through human thought must have shortcomings. This statement is proven by the many legal gaps that have been identified in cyber grooming regulations in Indonesia. Therefore, there needs to be a reform of legal construction by criminalizing cyber grooming as a crime separate from sexual harassment. [12]
In the formation of cyber grooming legal construction, Indonesia should learn from the experiences of other countries that have already regulated this act as a separate crime. Several countries in the Asian region that have criminalized cyber grooming as a separate crime include Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, South Korea and Brunei. Meanwhile, outside Asia, countries such as England, Australia, Spain, and even the United States have also equipped their legal instruments with cyber grooming regulations. [13] Therefore, an analysis will be carried out on each regulation to provide a contribution of thought in the formation of cyber grooming legal construction in Indonesia.
Malaysia
The Malaysian government has established the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017 which regulates various forms of sexual violence comprehensively. The law has the same age limit for children as Indonesia, which is 18 years. The criminalization of cyber grooming through the Sexual Offences Against Children Act, specifically in Chapter 3 concerning offences relating to child grooming, separates the act of grooming into three stages, namely communicating sexually with children, grooming children, and arranging meetings with children. This separation aims to make grooming criminally punishable at any stage. Article 11 paragraph (1) explains that adults who communicate with children sexually in any way are threatened with a maximum prison sentence of three years. The phrase in any way here covers electronic communication which is indeed often found in grooming cases. Next, Article 11 paragraph (2) defines sexual communication as communication that alludes to sexual activities and for everyone is considered sexual communication. This article can be a guideline for the court in interpreting the sexual elements in the groomer's actions when contacting his victim. This article can also be used to deter groomers from contacting children via electronic media for sexual purposes because their actions can be criminalized even before direct harassment occurs.
Article 12 states that anyone who communicates with a child through social media and disguises their identity to produce pornographic material is subject to a maximum prison sentence of five years and caning. This means that the actions of adults who prepare children to be sexually exploited through cyber media are considered a criminal act of grooming. The last part of Chapter 3, namely Article 13, states that anyone who, after communicating with a child, travels for sexual purposes is subject to a maximum prison sentence of ten years and caning. This article is intended to prevent groomers from trying to make direct contact with their victims for sexual purposes.
The specialty of this regulation is that many articles provide illustrations to be used as a reference in determining whether an act is a form of cyber grooming or not. This regulation also regulates the presumption of age in Article 20 which explains that a groomer's error in estimating the victim's age does not justify the crime committed. Although this regulation does not clearly define grooming, a number of articles in it are considered sufficient to interpret what is meant by grooming. Many studies claim that the presence of this regulation has contributed fully to handling cyber grooming crimes in Malaysia. Thus, several of the formulations of the articles above can be used as considerations in taking firm action against cyber grooming crimes in Indonesia. [14]
Singapore
Moving to Singapore, this country also regulates cyber grooming through the Penal Code 1871 which has been amended in the Criminal Law Reform Act 2019. Article 376EA on Exploitative sexual grooming of minors of or above 16 but below 18 years of age states that there are five elements of grooming. First, there must be someone aged 18 years or older who communicates or meets the child at least once. The reason for making the minimum limit of interaction between the groomer and the victim once is because explicit sexual interaction can be considered as preparation for sexual activity. This element allows Singaporean law enforcement officers to conduct arrest operations by ignoring the qualification that the groomer must have met or traveled to meet the child. [15]
Another objective considered in determining this element is Singapore's geographical condition as a small country that makes it easy for groomers to hold meetings with just one interaction via cyber media. Apart from that, this element has caused controversy because the age limit of 18 years is considered too low to label someone as a sexual predator. In response to this, the author argues that many cases of sexual violence are also committed by someone who is still young. Therefore, Indonesia does not provide an age limit to be able to categorize someone as a perpetrator of sexual violence. Even if a case is found that determines a child as a suspect, the difference lies only in the use of the juvenile justice mechanism. [15]
The second element is the perpetrator's act of intentionally meeting or traveling to commit prostitution, rape, and other forms of sexual violence. This article proves that the crime of prostitution is often associated with the grooming method. The third element is that there is a victim who is 16 years old but under 18 years old. The purpose of this element is to provide legal certainty for victims who are above the age category of Singaporean children but still under the age limit for someone to become a groomer.
The fourth element is related to Mistake as to age in sexual offences. Misunderstanding the victim's age is often a defense for the parties in court. If the groomer still holds fast to his argument that the victim was 18 years of age or older when the act was committed, then evidence that the child participated in adult activities such as smoking and so on is not enough to be a benchmark in verifying the child's age. The existence of this article shows that Singapore Law was drafted with consideration of effective tactics that can be used to counter the groomer's common alibi to get away with their crimes.
The fifth element is the existence of an exploitative relationship. The meaning of an exploitative relationship can be found in Article 377CA which sets out four aspects as its benchmark, namely how young the victim is, how far the age difference is between the groomer and the victim, what the nature of the relationship between the two is, and how much control the groomer has over the victim. If these four elements are cumulatively fulfilled, the act is punishable by a maximum of 3 years in prison and/or a fine. Through the above regulatory dissection, it is hoped that it can be an inspiration for Indonesia in developing a comprehensive cyber grooming legal construction.
Australia
Australia is a country that has several administrative regions in the form of states where each state has regulations that criminalize cyber grooming. This study will focus on the regulations owned by the Australian Capital Territory as the place for the Australian capital, Canberra. Cyber grooming provisions can be seen in the Crimes Act 1900 which has been amended through the Sexual Procurement or Grooming of Children Act 2007 Article 66EB concerning Procuring or grooming child under 16 for unlawful sexual activity. The first element contained in this article is the presence of adults aged 18 years or older. These adults will later be placed as the perpetrators of grooming because they are considered mature enough to understand the consequences of their actions. [16]
The second element is that there are victims under the age of 16. Unfortunately, this phrase has resulted in the lack of legal certainty for children aged between 16 and under 18. This problem has been included in the report of the law reform commission in one of the Australian states for further study. The third element is conduct, which in this regulation includes communicating online using telephones, the internet, or other means. This means that this regulation has exceeded the limits of the application of the Sexual Violence Act, which is limited to physical crimes. The fourth element is unlawful sexual activity. This element emphasizes that grooming is intended to prepare children to engage in illicit sexual activity.
After understanding the elements in Article 66EB, it should be noted that this article also includes two acts at once, namely procuring children (persuading children) and grooming children (manipulating children). The act of procuring children is said to be fulfilled if there is an adult who intentionally persuades a child to engage in sexual activity either with himself or another person. This act is punishable by 15 years in prison if the victim is under 14 years old and 12 years in prison for other cases. On the other hand, the act of grooming children is said to be fulfilled if there is an adult who exposes children to watch indecent content in order to make it easier for them to engage in sexual activity either with themselves or another person, threatened with 14 years in prison if the victim is under 14 years old and 10 years in prison for other cases.
The apparent attraction in this article is that there is no minimum number of communications that must be met to drag the groomer to court. So it can be interpreted that one communication is enough as a basis for Australian law enforcement to arrest the groomers. This article also explains that unlawful sexual activity only needs to be proven to the extent that the victim has been or will be prepared for sexual activity. This evidentiary mechanism has unknowingly simplified the performance of the competent authorities which was never felt when preparing the evidentiary agenda in previous conventional sexual violence cases. Therefore, this Law should be a reference for Indonesia which considers grooming as a crime that deserves a high criminal penalty and offers a more effective evidentiary mechanism.
Canada
Canada has regulated the use of telecommunications to facilitate sexual violence with children as a criminal offense through the Canada Criminal Code 1985 Part V concerning Sexual Offences, Public Morals, and Disorderly Conduct in Article 172.1 concerning Luring a Child (luring a child). The terminology chosen by Canada automatically provides a broader definition so that it can increase the flexibility of law enforcement officers in prosecuting this type of crime. However, this good faith from Canada has actually given rise to new problems regarding the inconsistency in mentioning the crime of online communication with children for sexual purposes. This is the same as distancing the international ideal of eliminating the gap in cyber grooming regulations across countries. [17]
Continuing the discussion on cyber grooming, Article 172.1 has a slight difference with articles in other countries. Canadian law criminalizes online communication for sexual activity with varying age limits for victims depending on the type of sexual crime related to that age. Article 172.1 paragraph (1) letter a criminalizes anyone who uses telecommunications equipment on a child under 18 years of age to facilitate acts, such as:
Article 153 paragraph (1) (sexual exploitation)
Article 155 (incestuous sexual relations)
Article 163 paragraph (1) (distribution of pornographic content)
Article 170 (parents who facilitate children's sexual activities)
Article 171 (homeowner who permits child sexual activity)
Article 279.01 paragraph (1) (human trafficking)
Article 279.02 paragraph (2) (child trafficking for commercial purposes)
Article 286.1 paragraph (2) (obtaining sexual services from children)
Article 286.2 paragraph (2) (obtaining financial benefits from sexual services from children)
Article 286.3 paragraph (2) (provision of sexual services)
Furthermore, Article 172.1 paragraph (1) letter b criminalizes anyone who facilitates sexual activity with children under 16 years of age to engage in a form of crime, such as:
Article 151 (physical and non-physical sexual relations)
Article 152 (inciting children to engage in sexual activity)
Article 160 paragraph (3) (having sexual relations with animals in front of children)
Article 173 paragraph (2) (exposing genitals to children)
Article 271 (sexual violence)
Article 272 (sexual assault using a weapon)
Article 273 (sexual violence resulting in serious injury)
Article 280 (kidnapping of minors)
Still with the same act, in Article 172.1 paragraph (1) letter c, punishes anyone who facilitates the act regulated in Article 281 (kidnapping of minors) with children under the age of 14 years. All acts in the article are subject to a maximum prison sentence of 1 year. The existence of different age limits that separate forms of sexual crimes according to their respective age categories makes this regulation have a unique characteristic that is not possessed by other countries. However, this certainly has consequences for the emergence of questions about the age of consent possessed by children in Canada.
In response to this question, the Canadian government stated that the age of consent for children in their country is 16 years. [18] However, Canadian law still includes children under the age of 18 in Article 172.1 paragraph (1) to protect them from certain crime scenarios that are prone to ensnaring children of that age. Not only children aged 16 years, according to Article 150.1 paragraph (2.1) children aged 14 and 15 years also have the age of consent if their partner is not 5 years older than them and is not in a relationship of trust, authority, dependency, or exploitation of the child.
Article 150.1 paragraph (2) also explains that children aged 12 and 13 years can agree to sexual activity if their partner is not 2 years older than them and is not in the same relationship conditions as Article 150.1 paragraph (2.1). However, according to the author, this provision cannot be adopted in formulating the construction of cyber grooming law in Indonesia because it is contrary to religious values and socio-cultural norms in society which tend to be conservative and it is feared that it can cause confusion regarding the age of consent of children in Indonesia.
After exploring various laws and regulations in other countries, there are a number of indicators that need to be considered in designing the construction of cyber grooming law in Indonesia. The term cyber grooming which is still unfamiliar to the public requires a standardization of meaning first for the term and includes a detailed description of other phrases that are often used in the scope of this crime. The construction of cyber grooming law also needs to include provisions regarding mistake of age considering that groomers' mistakes in guessing the age of their victims have repeatedly become a reason for defense during the evidence process in Court.
It is also necessary to make efforts to increase the principal penalty for convicts if it is proven to have been committed by a close relative of the victim. There should be no misperception that grooming can only be done by people who have no personal relationship with the victim. If this perception has already been embedded in the mindset of the community, it is feared that it can reduce their level of sensitivity so that it normalizes deviant acts that actually lead children to sexual violence. In addition, there needs to be collaboration between the state and various social media platforms to limit the use of digital communication platforms for perpetrators of sexual crimes in order to prevent similar crimes in the future.
After the formulation of the cyber grooming legal construction reaches the final line, of course other challenges will await in the implementation process. The process of shifting online interactions to relatively short face-to-face meetings requires law enforcement officers to act quickly in intervening in physical contact efforts made by groomers. Therefore, efforts to intervene by authorized officers must be supported by the active role of parents in collecting electronic evidence such as screenshots of conversation history which are useful as initial evidence to secure the perpetrators. Later, this electronic evidence can also be used as a strong basis for evidence in court.
The ongoing cases of cyber grooming in Indonesia indicate the need for special expertise in handling this type of crime. Therefore, Lemdiklat Polri and the United Nations for Development Programme (UNDP) Indonesia together with the Korean National Police Agency (KNPA) and the UNDP Seoul Policy Center (USPC) have taken proactive steps by issuing a KSBE training module to create a more responsive law enforcement environment. Seeing that the training module has been prepared by the police, this certainly urges the legislative institution to immediately initiate the formation of a cyber grooming legal construction so that it can be applied throughout the justice system including the police, prosecutors, courts, and correctional institutions to create legal certainty in Indonesia.
The emergence of cyber grooming crimes has threatened the safety of children while they are active on social media. The absence of legal instruments in Indonesia related to this type of crime has also caused confusion among law enforcement officers in keeping up with the development of crime modes that are only mastered by the perpetrators. Therefore, it should be a priority for Indonesia to accelerate the formation of cyber grooming legal construction based on comparative studies in Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, and Canada which have already criminalized the act. These various considerations are expected to be a serious consideration for the Indonesian Government in order to create a social media environment that is free from sexual predators. The active role of parents in monitoring children's relationships on social media is crucial in overcoming cyber grooming. Parents can provide an understanding to their children not to romanticize unnatural relationships with adults. Parents can get their children used to always being open in order to anticipate their involvement in illicit sexual activities. Through these methods, it is hoped that it can reduce the level of sensitivity of children to being exposed to cyber grooming crimes which are supported by the government's mature plan in initiating more qualified legal policies to create legal certainty in Indonesia.