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he House of Representatives is set to pass the revision of the controversial 2008 Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE) Law by the end of this month despite mounting criticism from civil society groups and internet users who regard the law as too draconian.

Deputy chairman of House Commission I overseeing defense and foreign affairs, Tubagus Hassanudin, said the commission had resolved all the contentious points in the bill and would bring it to the plenary session to pass into law in the third week of September.

“All political factions have already agreed to the revision. We will immediately bring it to the plenary meeting to pass it into law,” he told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

Tubagus acknowledged that many people had expressed concerns that the defamation clause within the revision, which was retained by lawmakers, was inimical to freedom of speech with many innocent people jailed for merely expressing their opinions on the web.

However, he said, the defamation article was still needed to protect citizens from online defamation.

The House, he said, had decided to reduce the maximum sentence from six to four years in their attempt to make the article less draconian. The Criminal Code Procedures (KUHAP) stipulates that a person charged with a crime carrying a maximum punishment of five years’ imprisonment can be detained during investigation.

A researcher with the Institute for Criminal Justice Reform (ICJR), Anggara, said that determining the maximum sentence should have been based on profound research and consideration, not just on whether it would lead to detention or not.

Anggara also criticized the lack of transparency regarding the bill’s deliberation by the House, saying that it did not reflect the House’s claim to be accountable.

An observer at the Legal Aid for the Press (LBH Pers), Asep Komarudin, said the law had lost its purpose, which was to protect citizens from online fraud, not online defamation.

“It’s a huge disappointment if the revision amounts merely to a reduction of maximum sentences. It does not serve the public interest,” he said, adding that the law was often used as a legal method of silencing and prosecuting critics.

Article 27 (3) of the law stipulates criminal punishments for anyone found guilty of transmitting electronic information or documents that intimidate or defame another.

Ade said that the law should have been made to regulate the rising e-commerce sector or online applications to prevent companies from misusing customers’ private data.

“The Technology and Information Ministry has frequently issued ministerial decrees to regulate online activities. Why not just draft them into law instead?” he said.

The law was initially aimed at protecting Indonesian internet users, whose numbers have grown exponentially in the last couple of years, from the danger of internet fraud.

Last month, a man in Medan was sentenced to 14 months in prison because a Facebook friend tagged him in a post that shared news of an alleged corruption case involving one of the most influential people in the city. (fac)