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ights groups have called on the government to amend the Information Transaction (ITE) Law arguing that it could easily be used by authorities to infringe people'€™s basic rights.

Wahyudi Djafar, a researcher at the Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy (Elsam), said the wording of the law was extremely malleable and open to multiple interpretations, which could lead to people being unjustly convicted for exercising their right to free speech.

Data from Elsam shows that 37 people were charged under the law between 2008 and 2013, including Prita Mulyasari, who was sued by Omni International Hospital in 2009 for defamation after she complained about the hospital'€™s service in an online mailing list.

Wahyudi said most of the victims were charged under Article 27 of the law, stipulating that anyone found guilty of using electronic media, including social networks, to intimidate or defame others could be liable to six years in prison and a fine of up to Rp 1 billion (US$88,048).

He added that the government had also introduced measures to filter content on the Internet, although the law only stipulated that criminal charges could be brought against individuals distributing obscene material and said nothing about government censorship.

Internet Service Providers (ISP) in the country have used non-governmental tools to block access to questionable content, such as the Nawala Project, which specifically blocks sites allegedly promoting pornography, gambling and phishing.

Although the usage of these tools does protect Internet users, some LGBT groups fell victim to the content filtering when they found that they could not access LGBT advocacy websites in 2010.

King Oey, an activist from Arus Pelangi, told The Jakarta Post that their websites were targeted because they contained the words '€œlesbian'€ and '€œgay'€. '€œAlthough most of the sites were able to get back online, this incident proved that the law can be used to discriminate against minority groups,'€ he said.

In January, Djoko Agung Harijadi, Communications and Information Ministry informatics application division secretary said that they had sent a draft revision of the law to the House of Representatives for inclusion in the 2014 national legislation program (Prolegnas).

The revision was to reduce the maximum punishment for people convicted of defamation from six years to two years.

Bambang Heru Tjahyono, the director general of informatics application at the ministry, however, said that the draft had not been included in the 2014 Prolegnas, and it was unlikely that it would be included in the 2015 Prolegnas either.

'€œWe will try to get it revised. However, this does not mean that we don'€™t think the law should not exist. It is there to encourage a healthy and safe environment for Internet users,'€ he said.

Bambang added that the law needed to be stricter in order to differentiate between freedom of expression and defamation. He said that the government had to balance protecting the privacy of users against the need for public safety.

Indonesia Internet Domain Registry (PANDI) chairman Andi Budimansyah, concurred with Bambang that the law was justified because too much freedom on the Internet was not a good thing, especially when it came to pornography.

'€œRather than focusing on amending the law, the government should just educate young people better about Internet safety. This would encourage healthy Internet habits that would hopefully prevent defamation and child pornography cases,'€ he said. (fss)