Wamenkumham: The Defamation Article Is Troubling

Deputy Minister of Law and Human Rights (Wamenkumham) Edward Omar Sharif Hiariej (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - Deputy Minister of Law and Human Rights (Wamenkumham), Edward OS Hiariej did not deny that article 27 paragraph 3 of Law Number 19 Year 2016 concerning Information and Electronic Transactions (ITE) regarding defamation has generated unrest in the community.

"It is undeniable that this article has caused unrest. There have been multiple interpretations or distortions between the submission of criticism and defamation, resulting in mutual reporting," said Eddy, his nickname when opening the Public Discussion of the Law on Information and Electronic Transactions in Yogyakarta, reported by Antara, Thursday, March 18.

According to Eddy, the original purpose of the ITE Law was to prevent any actions that harm others in cyberspace, from hacking to spreading hoaxes.

Violation of law in the real world, according to him, is now possible to happen virtually.

"So this Law (ITE) is needed because activities in cyber space cannot be approached by conventional legal standards alone. If this is followed (with conventional law), many will pass and have difficulties in enforcing the law," he said.

However, the next idea emerged in the DPR RI to include the prevention of other legal violations in cyberspace, one of which could include issues of insult or defamation so that Article 27, Article 28, and Article 29 appeared in the ITE Law.

The three articles, according to him, have multiple interpretations because they do not meet the main requirements in the legality principle, one of which states that there is no criminal act without a clear law. "Are Articles 27, 28 and 28 clear? No, it is not clear," said Eddy.

He gave an example in the ITE Law, the explanation regarding Article 27 simply states that the element of defamation referred to is as referred to in Article 310 of the Criminal Code concerning defamation and Article 311 of the Criminal Code concerning slander.

According to him, this was different from the time the formation of the Corruption Act (Tipikor). When adopting a number of occupational crimes from the Criminal Code, the articles were completely removed and rewritten in the law.

As a result, Article 27 paragraph 3 of the ITE Law which regulates defamation is often protested by various groups of society.

"The argument that often arises is because the criteria and elements of the action are not clear and have multiple interpretations," he said.

Therefore, through this public discussion, he hopes that experts, practitioners, or the public can participate in providing input to the study team which has the task of formulating implementative criteria for certain articles in the ITE Law which are considered to cause multiple interpretations.

Regarding the articles that have multiple interpretations, according to him, President Joko Widodo will invite the DPR to revise the ITE Law.

"Talking about the revision of the Law is not as easy as turning the palm of the hand. It requires a process of at least two to three months because after discussions are still dealing with the DPR, an inventory of problems will appear, which will then be discussed and then ratified," he said.

The ITE Law, said Eddy, in principle must be able to protect various legal interests to protect freedom of speech, express opinions orally and in writing.

In addition, the regulation must also protect the freedom to communicate and obtain information as rights that are constitutional rights of citizens as stipulated in Article 28F of the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia and the basic rights of protection of the dignity, dignity and good name of others protected under Article 28G paragraph 1) UUD NRI 1945.