The Communications and Information Technology Ministry reportedly is preparing a regulation to curb Internet-related crime. The regulation will require content providers to be responsible for their content. The providers of multimedia services will be banned from distributing, transmitting and making accessible multimedia content deemed pornographic, violating public decency, promotes gambling or "communicates lies and misleading information". Under the regulation, content providers failing to remove such content can have their permits revoked. Whatever your stance is, give us your opinion on how this regulation may affect press freedom and people's creativity.
Pro
Regulation necessary to make content more accountable
Wibi Andrino
School of Law
Trisakti University, Jakarta
I think the philosophy behind this regulation is about putting society into order. However, in the hierarchy, this regulation should not contradict the Constitution. If this happens, people may file for a judicial review of the regulation at the Constitutional Court. However, ministry regulations come under the Constitution. Thus, if the Constitution rules against them, ministry regulations may be ignored.
In this multimedia regulation case, the government doesn't want to confront content providers directly. It is quite good that the government wants content providers to be responsible for what they provide. Practically, the government can control the content providers, while content providers control their subscribers.
In the relationship with the freedom of the press, regulation is needed such that information on the Internet is accountable and doesn't contain misrepresentations or prejudice. I don't think we are going back to the New Order, because this regulation does not forbid the freedom of expressing opinions. It is more about taking responsibility for what we say online.
I agree with this regulation because in my opinion there are no social controls for the Internet. That is the reason our government created the regulation.
CON
Multimedia regulation will take society back to New Order
Michael Alexander
School of Economic Management
YAI University, Jakarta
This is the right time to discuss the freedom of the Internet because Indonesia has the largest amount of cybercrime in the world. Cybercrime in Indonesia may slow its economic growth. In many cases, Indonesian credit cards are not accepted online, and in some cases are banned.
Regarding pornography, this is entertainment for some adults. To control pornographic sites, the government needs to work with many elements of society. The government may restrict numbers of viewers by setting age limits, or even imposing taxes on these sites. Isn't that fair enough? Basically, it is a similar concept to localization. If you can't completely forbid them, you can still apply some rules to keep everything in order.
In general, I agree that freedom, in the context of the Internet, should be regulated, but there must be better ways than the ministry's regulation of multimedia. The regulation should be designed to suit society. For example social sites have moderators and administrators who act like editors to filter information.
I admit, if this regulation is not cancelled, I will probably feel a bit afraid about expressing my opinions online. I don't want to go back to the New Order regime when we had no freedom to express our opinions. The reforms initiated in 1998 will be useless too and I am pretty sure the regulation will disturb the nation's freedom, creativity and growth.
Why would a webmaster take responsibility for others' mistakes?
Audi Indrayahya
Dutch Literature
University of Indonesia
Rumors about the new regulations for content providers have distorted public opinions. They say the regulation has the power to ban content providers if their websites host forbidden content, for example pornographic pictures or content that is offensive in terms of racial/tribal or religious content. Remember the case of Prita Mulyasari versus Omni Hospital?
That regulation is unfair for a developing country like Indonesia. Content providers must be responsible for the content of their websites. But this is not the reason for the government to call the creator or administrator of a website to take responsibility for all the mistakes they did not commit.
If the government still manages to issue the new regulation on content providers, I am sure many people in our country will lose their privacy and will become afraid to post emails, pictures or even content on blogs, because the line between what is legal and illegal will be very thin. They will sort and choose the best content according to them.
I think it is fair that content providers must hire staff to monitor content on their websites. Are these forbidden files or not? Is it safe or not? They must monitor it and choose carefully so the government will not apply the new regulation on the content providers.
Most people in Indonesia do not know how to use the internet. We can see from Sabang to Merauke that only a few people can use the internet. The issue of the new regulation will become useless if the common people do not know how to apply it in their daily lives. Besides, there is substantial content on the Internet that originally comes from foreign websites.
The press would not dare post their news, because if the content of their news was very bad in the government's eyes, the Communications and Information Ministry could quickly ban them or even close them down if they had to.
Next topic
The National Education Ministry is determined to evaluate "international standard" schools. Its 2009 ministerial decree mandates the teaching of a number of subjects in Indonesian, including religious studies, civics and the national language. Deputy National Education Minister Fasli Jalal said the government had received many complaints saying that the privately run "international schools" charge high admission and tuition fees but the quality of the schools, their teaching staff and graduates are no better than traditional state schools.
Send us your opinion on how this regulation could improve the quality of national education, in 350 words. The best responses will be published on April 18.
