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Govt, legislature to keep online defamation article in ITE Law
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Supporters of Ervani, the defendant in a defamation case, stage a peaceful rally in front of the Bantul District Court, Yogyakarta, on Nov. 24, 2014. The government and legislature have agreed to keep the controversial article on online defamation in the 2008 Electronic Information and Transaction (ITE) Law despite protests. (JP/Bambang Muryanto)
T
he government and legislature have agreed to keep a controversial article on online defamation in the Electronic Information and Transaction (ITE) Law despite protests of free speech violation.
Article 27 of the 2008 law states that people could be criminalized if they deliberately distribute, transmit or create accessible electronic information or documents containing slanderous and defamatory language.
Henri Subiakto, an advisor to Communications and Information Minister Rudiantara, said the government refused to scrap the article because it did not contradict the 1945 Constitution, as stipulated by the Constitutional Court through its judicial reviews in 2008 and 2009.
"All factions in House of Representatives Commission I have agreed to keep the article, except the Gerindra Party faction," Henri said after a closed meeting in the legislative complex on Tuesday.
However, he said the government would add clearer definitions of "distribute", "transmit" and "make accessible" in the revised version of the law.
