What Is Publisher Right? Media Management Rules To Fight Foreign Platform Domination

Content news (Freepic)

YOGYAKARTA - The Ministry of Communication and Information Technology stated that it would open the aspirations of various parties in drafting Presidential Regulation (Perpres) regarding the plan to establish a public right. What is a publisher right and its use?

Previously, the proposed public rights rule was submitted by the Press Council and the Press Task Force Media Sustainability. The proposal discussed the right to media management and information dissemination in the era of the dominance of digital platforms from abroad. Kominfo said that the public right would become a bridge between media companies and digital platforms.

The Indonesian government has discussed seriously the proposed public right. President Jokowi asked all relevant parties to immediately complete the regulation and be issued in the form of a Presidential Decree. So what is a public right and its benefits for the media?

Publisher rights are rules or regulations requiring digital platforms to provide economic value to news content from local and national media. With this regulation, the mass media will obtain some kind of royalties on content published and widely shared on digital platforms such as social media, search engines, and news aggregators.

The proposal for a public right in Indonesia begins with anxiety about the dominance of digital platforms from outside. To reduce this dominance and so that the work system in information technology is fairer, a media management right is proposed through a public right. With the implementation of this policy, conventional mass media and new media will have the same opportunity in media convergence.

"Yes, B2B will be [the format]. Later there will be a size of a platform that must cooperate with a press company. That size is what we call a significant presence," said Usman Kansong, Director General of Information and Public Communication of Kominfo on the sidelines of the Kominfo Preparation Support event at the ASEAN Summit 2023, recently.

President Jokowi continues to push for the immediate issuance of the Law on public rights in order to support the sustainability of responsible, honest, and conscience-appropriate media, in the midst of the dominance of foreign platforms. Currently 60% of digital advertising is controlled by foreign platforms that have an impact on making it difficult for the sustainability of the media.

The public rights rules have been implemented in a number of countries, namely South Korea and Australia. Kangaroo Country has passed a public right law called the News Media Bargaining Code. Digital platforms such as Google, Facebook, Twitter, and others are required to pay local media outlets whose content is linked to search results.

South Korea applies a public right under the name Telecommunication Business Act. The law prohibits app market organizers such as the Apple Store and Google PlayStore which require developers and media to be subject to payment regulations from the organizers.

Kominfo said the public right policy would be a connecting bridge between digital platforms and media companies with a business to business (B2B) scheme. Later, an institution will be formed that oversees and ensures that digital platforms comply with a number of obligations and responsibilities.

The presence of several foreign platforms used by Koreans is quite stressful on local or national media finances. Apple companies have been reaping 30% commissions in South Korea for purchases in their applications. The existence of these provisions makes local media that apply subscription services burdened with 30% discounts for commissions.

That is the review of what is the right publisher that will be applied in Indonesia. The Ministry of Communication and Informatics conveyed that the draft press release right has now been submitted to the Ministry of State Secretariat.