Parental Digital Illiteracy and Communication Paradox in Children’s Video Game Practices: Case Study from Malang City, Indonesia

The issue of video games has become an important topic in the social sciences, particularly regarding age rating systems and content regulation. While these concerns have been extensively examined in developed nations, they remain underexplored in developing contexts such as Indonesia. This study identifies a socio-cultural paradox in digital parenting practices in Malang City, Indonesia, where many parents adopt reactive and restrictive supervision strategies while failing to evaluate the actual game content. A descriptive qualitative single-case study was conducted using semi-structured interviews with 26 parents and their children. The findings reveal that all participating parents were unaware of existing video game age rating systems and rarely assessed the content of their children’s games. Thematic analysis produced four typologies of parental mediation, with the Paradoxical Mediator Parent emerging as the key finding. This typology reflects the interaction between parents’ low levels of digital literacy and local cultural conceptions, sak karepe and ojo kakean dolanan gem, which together form a culturally embedded, low-cost parenting strategy. The study contributes to the expansion of the parental mediation theory by integrating non-Western cultural scripts and provides practical recommendations to address digital literacy gaps within families and communities.