Framing the Regulatory State: Media Contestation Between Legitimacy and Resistance in Indonesian Children's Social Media Governance

Abstract

This study examines how three leading Indonesian online news outlets Kompas.com, Detik.com, and Tempo.co frame Government Regulation No. 17/2025 (PP TUNAS), Indonesias most comprehensive legislative instrument affecting approximately 70 million users under 16 years of age. the study identifies three distinct framing configurations. Kompas.com employs a normative-cognitive legitimacy frame, constructing PP TUNAS as empirically justified and morally appropriate. Detik.com applies a pragmatic-informative legitimacy frame, normalizing the regulation through procedural coverage without explicit resistance narratives. Tempo.co develops a critical-investigative resistance frame during the policy formation phase, shifting toward a balanced critical-constructive frame during implementation a pattern theorized as legitimacy migration from value-level to performance-level contestation. Framing divergence is shaped by ownership structures, editorial traditions, and political-economic positioning, extending framing theory and critical media studies in the Global South context.