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Online defamation could result in prison sentence
Jakarta Post - August 4, 2016
Netizens or social media enthusiasts need to be careful with their posts, or otherwise they could be charged with defamation as the government and the House of Representatives have agreed to retain a draconian article in the 2008 Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE) Law criminalizing opinions deemed to constitute defamation.
Rights activists have called for the removal of the article, but legislators are of the opinion that the article should be maintained.
Article 27 of the law prohibits people from distributing, transmitting or making accessible electronic information or documents containing indecency (Point 1), gambling (Point 2), defamation (Point 3) and blackmail or threats (Point 4).
Article 45, Point 1, stipulates that the violation of Article 27 carries a maximum sentence of six years in prison or a Rp 1 billion fine.
The only positive aspect for rights activists is that the sentence for defamation has been reduced from a six-year maximum to less than five years in prison.
Legislators have not agreed to the exact terms of the prison sentence. The deliberation is part of revisions to the 2008 ITE Law, expected to be finished in October.
However, rights activists believe the lighter prison sentence will do nothing to protect people from hate speech, and it will still threaten freedom of speech and expression.
Supriyadi W. Eddyono from the Institute of Criminal Justice Reform (ICJR) said on Wednesday that the House should omit the defamation charge from the law because it was and would continue to be prone to abuse.
"Although the House is reducing the punishment, the existence of the article itself still threatens our freedom of speech," Supriyadi said.
Hendardi, the chairman of the Setara Institute, a rights group, said the reduced punishment would not satisfy public aspirations because in all this time, there was no specific limit or boundary on what constituted defamation.
"I suggest that the House and the government develop a clear definition of defamation," Hendardi said.
The ITE Law has seen a number of people taken to jail for online speech since its implementation in 2008. Housewife Prita Mulyasari, for example, was sued for defamation by the Omni International Hospital in 2009 after she complained about the hospital's services on an online mailing list.
Henry Subiakto, a special staffer with the Communications and Information Ministry, said it was difficult to eliminate the controversial article because the Constitutional Court ruled twice in 2008 and 2009 that the article did not contradict the 1945 Constitution.
"Without the point on defamation, all people can freely spread hate speech and manipulate data on the internet," Henry said.
He also said the ITE Law did not need to offer definitions of defamation because they the law could refer to articles 310 and 311 of the Criminal Code.
Golkar Party politician Meutya Hafid, the deputy chairman of House Commission I overseeing information, communications, defense and foreign affairs, said the law did not aim to restrict free speech, but instead, to protect people from insults.
"Many only want to express their opinions, but many also want to intentionally insult other people. In cyber space, it's difficult to know whether a person wants to commit a crime or not," Meutya said.
Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/08/04/online-defamation-could-result-prison-sentence.html.
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