T

hank heavens for the internet, which has changed millions of things in the way we live — but like money, it can bring heaven or hell on earth.

The latest result in attempting to correct the many negative impacts of online communication and the use of cyberspace is last week’s amendment to the Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE) Law. Hailed in 2008, hopes were placed on the law keeping us safe from fraud in online transactions, but at present, the law has become controversial as ordinary people have become victims from its clause on defamation.

Communications and Information Minister Rudiantara has said more than 100 people have been criminalized for defamation. But he assures us that the amendment should no longer make the law a tool to criminalize freedom of speech, as procedures have become tighter.

The good news is that the new amendment reduces the maximum penalty for defamation from six to four years’ imprisonment. For offenders found guilty of transmitting electronic information carrying threats, the maximum punishment has also been lowered from 12 to four years.

Also, for those who think they have been wronged or smeared for life, the amended law includes “the right to be forgotten”— one can ask the courts to decide whether certain postings are damaging to oneself. The court can then authorize the ministry to order providers to remove the offending online content.

We appreciate the efforts of lawmakers and the government who have sought to avoid so much unintended consequences of the freedoms we take for granted on the internet. The sudden liberties have shocked many of us regarding the level of immaturity of even adults and public figures, revealed by their reckless clicks.

Yet what remains is the vulnerability of the ordinary citizen to charges of defamation when postings are made in jest, or in attempts to lodge complaints, or in everyday debate — for the amendment to have been made right in the middle of the Jakarta election’s campaign season means anybody can be charged of insult.

Further, regarding the “right to be forgotten”, we must assume our law enforcers are suddenly all professional and graft free, or all valiant in the face of intimidation, before believing the courts will rule justly in complainants’ favor in removing content in cyberspace. The law should not be abused to worsen our record on impunity; countless have escaped the law including powerful human rights abusers, who can now relish the thought that embarrassing reports can be removed.

Indonesia prides itself as being a growing democratic country, complete with those who wish to advance democracy faster, and those who caution us against repeating the mistakes of the “West” because of “too much” freedom.

After 18 years of reformasi it is the latter fears that are gaining more of a response from the government, which seems very happy to accommodate more state control against anything deemed as pornographic, terrorist-linked or insulting sensitivities.

So for those who dread the idea of a nanny state, let’s learn to be more careful in forwarding without a second thought all those postings and supposed “news” updates.