“If you say you play a lot of cellphones, Sis,” netizens commented every time there was a funny video of a child crying, someone slipping, or a filter that made our faces abnormal.
Tiktok Is More Than Alcohol
After creating cooking content, Yesti, a food vlogger (red: food reviewer) from Semarang, immediately uploaded a video through her Tiktok account. viral. Two hundred comments filled his account notifications. Yesti had just finished junior high school during the Covid-19 pandemic last year. For him, the pandemic was a turning point, but not for Dwi, his mother.
Pandemic is like a scourge that haunts Dwi. Watching his daughter not to play on the device is a separate business. He understands very well that social media is not suitable for a 14-year-old teenager to use. From the journal Analysis of Youth Social Media Addiction, Padang State University[1], 49% of respondents are highly dependent, they access social media five to six hours every day.
It doesn’t make sense that playing Tiktok is dangerous, but in a recent study by Harvard University, the TikTok app generates brain neural circuits that are commensurate with drugs and gambling, making them addictive. Even when our social media gets a notification, it triggers the same chemical reaction when someone consumes cocaine. The unique fact is, most respondents can resist drinking alcohol and sex than not opening Tiktok. Wow!
State Efforts to Reduce Addiction
Social media with criminal ends is no mere joke. In 2019, a husband in Jakarta had the heart to kill his wife just because he posted his widow status on Facebook. No need to go far to find out the impact of social media, if we are often anxious because uploads are not liked or annoyed if there is no response from the funny videos we send in the whatsapp group, then we are among those who need to hear the advice of psychologists.
Superpowers are also confused with social media, the case of an 11-year-old teenager suicide due to social media in Connecticut, United States (US), made two US Senators Amy Klobuchar and Cyhntia Lummis formulate Anti Social Media Addiction Bill. Both discussed with the Federal Trade Commission (red: US Consumer Protection Agency) and the National Academy of Science. There’s no official response from Facebook and Twitter yet, but it’s a good move.
From the east side of Africa, the Government of Uganda has implemented a tax on the use of social media since 2018. The tax is imposed at 200 Uganda Shilings or around IDR 855.00 per day. In addition to reducing the use of social media, the Ugandan government hopes to earn US$100 million from 17 million active internet users. The policy saw a drop of three million users in the first year the tax was implemented.
In Indonesia, efforts to reduce dependency through state levies have been implemented for a long time. State levies, which we know as excise, even existed before Indonesia’s independence. In Law Number 7 of 2021 concerning Harmonization of Tax Regulations, excise is imposed on goods whose consumption or use can have a negative impact on the community and need to be controlled. Excise is imposed on ethyl, alcohol and tobacco. Social media?
Guess the ‘Cost’ of Social Media
On the basis of exploring the potential for tax revenue from social media, Indonesia has implemented the collection of Value Added Tax (VAT) for Trading Through Electronic Systems (PMSE) since July 2020. Digital service providers with criteria certain, one of which 12,000 accesses in one year will be appointed as PMSE VAT collector. Facebook, Instagram, and Tiktok were appointed as pollsters in August 2020. A total of Rp3.92 trillion of VAT was collected as of October 31, 2021.
The imposition of PMSE VAT is still not covered to reduce the impact of mental disorders due to the use of social media. PMSE VAT is only charged on transactions made from the service. For example, if we buy a game or subscribe to an application, then we will be charged 11% VAT. If you can imitate like the Ugandan Government, maybe taxes will be imposed if we access social media beyond the normal daily usage threshold or before entering the application, we pay taxes in advance. I think this reminds us of the dolphin logo on internet cafes decades ago.
From Internetworldstats data, the number of Indonesian internet users in June 2021 was 76.3% of the total population or 212 million users. Indonesia is the third largest user in Asia after China and India. A huge market for the economy. For social media, Hootsuite explained that active usage data is at 170 million users, Hootsuite also noted that Indonesia is in the top 10 countries with the highest level of social media addiction in the world.
Potential tax we can use easy mathematical calculations. Suppose the Ministry of Finance determines that the use of more than three hours a day as a threshold is not fair, then assume the sample from the Padang State University Journal can represent the entire population in Indonesia. This means that 49% of the 170 million social media users can be taxed. A rough calculation if Indonesia uses the same tariff as the Government of Uganda, which is Rp. 855, then Indonesia gets state revenues of Rp. 68 billion per day or Rp. 25.9 trillion annually. Equal to four times the alcohol excise revenue in 2021 which reached Rp. 5.6 trillion, even though social media and alcohol have the same negative effect. Fantastic.
Road Road to Social Media Tax
The stigma of mental health disorders due to demon possession and lack of worship is still stuck in the minds of Indonesian people, even though mental health disorders are medical conditions. But the good news is that Nova Riyanti Yusuf, a member of the House of Representatives has fought for it, the bill on mental health was finally knocked into law in 2014 after six years of being proposed. Of course this law is a powerful weapon for social media tax policies.
Turning off or limiting social media connections is certainly not a solution, the economic cycle is too big to be eliminated, social media is a free promotion event for 64 million MSMEs in Indonesia. million just because his instagram account was hacked for three days. From a social perspective, social media information can be very useful, for example information on potential tsunamis during an earthquake can be spread cheaply and quickly through social media.
It’s not easy to tax social media, there are ways to avoid taxes every time. If it appeals to the same thing, the Indonesian government once collected a fee for television owners in the 1970s, but the officers had difficulties when the television was hidden or claimed to have been sold. Even when the Ugandan government was also overwhelmed when finally social media users used VPNs (red: tools to change user addresses through other networks).
De Regular
The implementation of social media tax needs to be formulated carefully, of course it can’t be done if we only look at state income or mental health. Don’t let the social media tax make the business world dim. In line with the words of the Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani in a broadcast with Deddy Corbuzier, he said that policies must look at many aspects. The health circles at that time insisted on raising the cigarette excise tax as high as possible. This certainly has a negative impact on the clove farming community, tobacco farmers, and kretek workers. As a result, the increase for the kretek cigarette industry is lower than for machine-made cigarettes. Arif, Mrs.
We should know the mandate in Law Number 18 of 2014 concerning Mental Health, “Considering that the state guarantees that everyone lives in physical and spiritual prosperity and obtains health services which are the mandate of the Act. 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia.”
There is still a long way to go for social media taxation. If in fact the social media tax is beneficial and has a good impact, it still needs political struggle and sacrifice. How not, social media is a ‘life’ for 170 million Indonesians, a large number of citizens who have the right to vote in general elections, including Dwi.
For Dwi–who when shopping for vegetables with her neighbors complains about Yesti’s behavior–it may not be a problem, but for Yesti, who has many loyal followers, it can snowball. Yesti, who last week complained about the appearance of pimples on her face, could go viral, let alone taxes, duh.
“Mom, I’m getting pimples again,” Yesti growled and Dwi expected her answer, “So don’t keep on HP!”
Sumber https://www.pajak.go.id/id/artikel/uganda-cegah-kecanduan-medsos-dengan-pajak-indonesia-kapan