Limited Revision Of ITE Law Becomes In The Spotlight: Not Considered A Solution And Additional Articles Are Urged To Be Revoked

JAKARTA - The revision of the Electronic Information and Transaction Law (UU ITE) will soon enter the legislative process at the Indonesian House of Representatives. However, a number of parties consider that this limited revision should be reviewed because it is considered not to solve the problem of freedom of expression which has been a scourge for the community.

One of these assessments came from the Commissioner of the National Human Rights Commission for Studies and Research, Sandrayati Moniaga. According to her, this limited revision is not a solution to the problem of freedom of expression which is constrained by the law.

Thus, the government was asked to re-examine the plan.

"The Indonesian National Human Rights Commission recommends that the government and the Indonesian House of Representatives review the proposed limited revision of the ITE Law," Sandrayati said in a written statement to reporters quoted on Wednesday, June 16.

According to her, the four articles that will be revised by the government in the ITE Law, namely Article 27, Article 28, Article 29, and Article 36 as well as the addition of a new article, namely Article 45 C, are not a solution to threats and problems of freedom of opinion and expression in the country.

As for Article 27 which consists of 4 paragraphs containing prohibitions on distributing and/or transmitting and/or making accessible electronic information charged with violating decency, gambling, humiliation and/or defamation, and extortion and/or threats.

Article 28 paragraph 1 contains a prohibition on spreading false news that causes consumer losses in electronic transactions. Article 28 paragraph 2 contains the prohibition of spreading hate speech based on ethnicity, religion, and race.

Article 29 contains a prohibition on sending electronic information that contains threats of violence or for personal fright. Article 36 regulates the limitation of the application of the ITE Law only for those that cause harm to other people.

Meanwhile, Article 45C will adopt Article 14 and Article 15 of Law Number 1 of 1946 concerning the Criminal Law Regulations regarding the spread of false news or news that is not certain to be true and can cause trouble in the community.

"The Indonesian National Human Rights Commission questioned the government's basis that it would only revise Articles 27, 28, 29, and 36. Even though there are other articles that are sources of violations of the rights to freedom of opinion and expression," she said.

Sandrayati revealed that the articles considered to be the source of the violation were Article 26 Paragraph 3 regarding the deletion of information; Article 40 Paragraphs 2a and 2b related to prevention and dissemination and the government's authority to cut off access; and Article 43 Paragraphs 3 and 6 related to searches, confiscations, arrests, and detentions.

"Therefore, the limited revision to four articles in the ITE Law is not a solution to the threat to freedom of opinion and expression in Indonesia," she said.

"The addition of a new article, namely Article 45 C, which adopted the provisions of the legislation in 1946, is no longer relevant to current conditions, so it becomes a threat to democracy and human rights," she added.

The addition of this article has also become the focus of civil society calling itself the Serious Coalition for the Revision of the ITE Law. They urged the government to revoke Article 45 C because it has the potential to have multiple interpretations and be misused.

"We consider Article 45C very vulnerable to misuse because the definition of fake news that causes trouble is not clearly defined so it has the potential for multiple interpretations. In addition, the inclusion of Article 45C is very contrary to public expectations that problematic articles will be removed," said the Executive Director of the Institute of Criminal Justice Reform (ICJR), Erasmus Napitupulu in his statement.

The coalition also said that there were a number of criminalization cases due to the rubber article in the ITE Law. A number of these cases occurred in Surabaya, Bau-bau, and Jakarta.

"Therefore (we, ed) urge the government to revise the eight articles listed in the ITE Law Revision Policy Paper," said Erasmus.

As previously reported, Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs (Menko Polhukam) Mahfud MD stated that President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) had agreed and provided directions for the limited revision of the ITE Law. He said the government would not revoke this law because repealing it would be tantamount to committing suicide.

Most recently, Mahfud said the status of this limited revision had been completed and would enter the legislative stage at the DPR RI after the synchronization was carried out by the Ministry of Law and Human Rights (Kemenkumham).

The former Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court (MK) said that although the draft revision of the ITE Law would enter the legislative process, the public could still provide input. However, the process was submitted to the legislature because the study team had finished carrying out their duties.