AJI secretary-general Arfi Bambani said the body was needed so that no party, including the government, could overexert the 2008 Information and Electronic Transactions (ITE) Law, which is considered to have the potential to violate freedom of expression.

He cited Article 27, paragraph 3 of the law, which states that people could face criminalization if they deliberately distributed, transmitted or made accessible electronic information or documents containing slanderous and defamatory language.

Meanwhile, Communications and Information Ministry Regulation No. 19/2014 allows the ministry and internet service providers (ISP) to ban websites that feature negative content.

“Luckily, the current government isn’t vicious, as it doesn’t block online content carelessly. Otherwise, any website that is critical of the government could be blocked. As users, we couldn’t file a complaint, because there is no formal mechanism for it,” Arfi said during a discussion in Jakarta on Wednesday.

“Hence, the government should establish one regulatory body to process complaints from users whose content is blocked arbitrarily.”

According to Arfi, the internet regulatory body could have the same authority as the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI) in broadcasting or the Indonesian Telecommunications Regulatory Body (BRTI) in telecommunications.

The body could record online transactions and help the government collect taxes from online advertisements, he added.

“This year, online advertising spending is predicted to see an increase of 37 percent compared to last year. The amount could reach tens of billions of rupiah per month. However, the money goes overseas as the government finds it hard to manage online players paying their taxes,” Arfi said. (vps/bbn)

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