JAKARTA - The Central Press Company Association (SPS) reminded the government that openness to international trade should not be paid for by weakening the sovereignty of national media. The issue came up in a discussion about the implications of the Agreement on Related Trade (ART), when the domestic press industry was under pressure from the invasion of global platforms, the shrinking of editorial space, and waves of layoffs.
In a forum held in Jakarta not long ago, Presidential Chief of Staff M. Qodari said that the government considered ART as a strategic instrument to strengthen trade relations, expand market access, provide investment certainty, and encourage the strengthening of the national digital ecosystem.
However, Qodari emphasized that national regulations remain the main reference. Therefore, the publisher rights policy is said to remain in force and will be a firm limit if there are provisions in the ART that collide with national interests.
"The government is in principle pro-trade, but still maintains domestic regulatory space. The national media industry must not be harmed," said Qodari.
The government also encourages digital platforms and social media to be subject to the principle of equality with the press so that the information ecosystem is not unbalanced.
The Press Council, through its member and chairman of the Digital and Sustainability Commission, Dahlan Dahi, emphasized that press sovereignty is a constitutional fence that cannot be negotiated in international agreements.
He highlighted two things. First, the ownership of media as regulated in the Press Law. ART is considered a potential way to open the way for foreign ownership of up to 100 percent in the media sector, something that could clash with national rules.
Second, publisher rights protection. According to Dahlan, Presidential Regulation Number 32 of 2024 must remain the basis for regulating the relationship between digital platforms and press companies, including licensing, data sharing, and revenue sharing schemes.
"Don't let the sovereignty of ownership of media content, journalistic works, and the principle of platform fairness be weakened," said Dahlan in a statement received in Jakarta, Sunday, April 12.
SPS assesses that the threats faced by the media industry are no longer a matter of theory. The shift in advertising spending to global platforms, the weakening of the bargaining position of press companies, to the use of journalistic works by artificial intelligence technology without adequate compensation has become a real pressure.
For SPS, this issue is not just a legal matter. It is also a matter of economic justice: who enjoys the value of the journalistic work of national media.
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