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Minister aims to pass web bill into law this year
Communications and Information Technology Minister Tifatul Sembiring said Thursday that he planned to pass the controversial bill regulating Internet content into law by the end of this year, defying critics that such regulation would undermine freedoms of speech
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ommunications and Information Technology Minister Tifatul Sembiring said Thursday that he planned to pass the controversial bill regulating Internet content into law by the end of this year, defying critics that such regulation would undermine freedoms of speech.
Tifatul said the ministry would make revision on the current draft regulation, which has been denounced by journalists and bloggers, who fear that it would only serve as censor.
The minister said he would study the way other countries regulate Internet filtering. “We will explore the regulations that apply in countries such as Australia, Singapore and Japan,” he said. He did not detail whether the public will be involved in the revision process.
The House of Representatives’ commission I overseeing information has given its support for Tifatul to issue a regulation to “control certain information that is not appropriate to be displayed by the electronic media”.
The House’s statement came in the wake of a widely publicized sex videos purportedly involving local A-list celebrities Nazril “Ariel” Ilham, Luna Maya and Cut Tari, leaked and spread over the Internet and other media in early June.
“Compared to the ITE [Information and Electronic Transaction] Law, this ministerial regulation is very democratic. It is not to be dreaded; it will ensure the participation of the public,” Tifatul said.
The ministry’s attempts to filter the Internet with the regulation were shelved earlier this year following public outrage. Critics said the regulation would limit Internet freedoms, which makes it possible for netizens to discuss issues that otherwise might never be broached.
But the minister played down the criticism, or rather, the critics themselves.
“Which [part of the] society are they? The fact is, the representatives of the people are sitting in the House and they are the ones that want this [regulation],” he said during a Thursday press conference.
The conference was held to discuss the blizzard of media coverage of the sex video brouhaha.
Tifatul urged TV stations to stop broadcasting footage from the videos. “Even when the pictures are blurred, the audience can still see the moves,” he said, adding the ministry could not take action against stations that aired snippets of the sex tapes.
“It falls under the authority of the KPI [Indonesian Broadcasting Commission] to take action against TV or radio stations.”
Chairman of the National Legal Development Agency, Ahmad M. Ramli, said the press is subject to
the press law and the journalism code of ethics.
“It is a violation when the press’ coverage is vulgar and becomes no more than a promotion in order to entice the audience to watch. And should there be a party that is distributing the tapes and claiming to be the press when it is not, we can use the articles on the porn law or the criminal code against it,” he added.
The 2008 Pornography Law and the Criminal Code punish those distributing pornographic material.
Ahmad said if the sex clips were made for private use, the makers can not be charged with the law.
Tifatul, previously chairman of the religiously conservative Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), said adultery was unacceptable.
“I cannot accept [the idea] that adultery is a private matter because I am a man of religion,” he said.
