Freedom of opinion, freedom of expression, and freedom of the press are human rights, protected by Pancasila, the 1945 Constitution, and the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The existence of cybermedia in Indonesia is also part of freedom of opinion, freedom of expression, and freedom of the press.
Cybermedia has a particular character. It requires guidelines so that it can be professionally managed, fulfilling its functions, rights, and obligations under the Law Number 40 of 1999 concerning the Press and Journalistic Code of Ethics. For this reason, the Press Council and press organizations, cyber media managers, and the public have compiled the CyberMedia Coverage Guidelines as follows:
1. Scope
CyberMedia is any form of media that uses the internet and carries out journalistic activities and meets the requirements of the Press Law and the Press Company Standards set by the Press Council. User-Generated Content is any content created and or published by cyber media users, including articles, images, comments, sounds, videos. Also, various forms of uploads that are attached to cyber media, such as blogs, forums, reader comments, our viewers, etc.
2. Verification and news balance
In principle, every news must be verified. News that can harm other parties requires verification to meet the principles of accuracy and balance. The provisions in point (a) above are exempted, if: The news contains urgent public interests; The first news source is a source that is identified, credible and competent; News subjects that must be confirmed are unknown and/or cannot be interviewed; The media explained to the readers that the news still needed further verification which will be attempted as soon as possible. The explanation should be included at the end of the same story, in brackets and italics. The media will explain to the readers that the news still needs further verification, which will be made in the shortest possible time. The explanation should be posted at the end of the same story, in brackets and italics. After publishing the news in accordance with terms (c), the media is obliged to continue verification efforts. The verification results must be included in the update, along with a link to the previous news (that has not been verified).
3.User Generated Content
Cybermedia must include terms and conditions regarding User Generated Content that do not conflict with Law No. 40 of 1999 concerning the Press and Journalistic Code of Ethics. Cybermedia requires each user to register for membership and log-in to be able to publish all forms of User Generated Content. The log-in provisions will be further regulated. Cybermedia requires users to give written consent that the User Generated Content published: News contains urgent public interests; Does not contain lies, slander, sadistic and obscene; Does not contain prejudice and hatred related to ethnicity, religion, race, and intergroup (SARA), and advocates violence; Does not contain discriminatory content, based on differences in sex and language and does not demean the dignity of the weak, poor, sick, mentally disabled, or physically disabled. Cybermedia has absolute authority to edit or delete User Generated Content that is contrary to point (c). Cybermedia is obliged to provide a complaint mechanism for User Generated Content that is deemed to violate the provisions in point (c). The mechanism should be provided in a place that is easily accessible to users. Cybermedia is obliged to edit, delete, and take corrective actions for any User Generated Content that is reported and violates the provisions of point (c), as soon as possible, proportionally no later than 2 x 24 hours after the complaint is received. Cybermedia that has met the provisions in points (a), (b), (c), and (f) are not burdened with responsibility for problems that arise from publishing content that violates the provisions in point (c). Cybermedia is responsible for User Generated Content that is reported if it does not take corrective action after the time limit, as stated in point (f).
4. Errors, corrections, and the right to reply
Errors, corrections, and right of reply refer to the Press Law, the Journalistic Code of Ethics, and the Guidelines for the Right to Reply established by the Press Council. Errors, corrections, and/or right of reply must be linked to the rectified and corrected news. In every news, rectification, correction, and right of reply, the time of publish must be stated. If a certain cyber media news is disseminated by other cyber media, then: The responsibility of the newsmaker cyber media is limited to news published in the cyber media under its technical authority; News corrections by a cyber media must also be carried out by other cyber media, who quote the corrected news from the corrected cyber media; News subjects that must be confirmed are not known and/or cannot be interviewed; Media that disseminates news from a cyber media and does not make corrections to the news according to the cyber media owner and/or newsmaker, is fully responsible for all legal consequences of the uncorrected news. According to the Press Law, cyber media that do not serve the right of reply can be subject to a maximum fine of IDR 500,000,000 (five hundred million rupiahs).
5. News Revocation
News that has been published cannot be revoked for reasons of censorship from outside the editorial team, except related to racial issues, morality, the future of the child, the victim's traumatic experience, or based on other special considerations determined by the Press Council. Other cyber media must follow the revocation of news excerpts from the original media that have been revoked. News revocation must be accompanied by reasons for withdrawal and announced to the public.
6. Advertising
Cyber media must clearly distinguish between news and advertising products. Every news / article / content which is an advertisement and / or paid content must include the description of 'advertorial', 'advertisement', 'ads', 'sponsored', or other words which explain that the news / article / content is an advertisement.
7. Copyright
Cybermedia is obliged to respect copyright as stipulated in the applicable laws and regulations.
8. Inclusion of Guidelines
Cybermedia must include this Cyber Media Coverage Guidelines in the media.
9. Dispute
The final assessment of the dispute, regarding the implementation of the CyberMedia Coverage Guidelines, is settled by the Press Council.
Jakarta, February 3, 2012