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iolence against journalists may increase in 2018, a “political year,” during which 171 provinces, regencies and cities are set to hold regional elections simultaneously on June 27.

With hundreds of candidates competing for public office with the help and support of their affiliated political parties, it is likely journalists will have to deal with greater challenges on a daily basis. “In this year of politics, President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo must instruct all government branches to ensure the protection of freedom of the press and freedom of expression as part of the country’s efforts to uphold democracy and human rights,” press watchdog Legal Aid Institute for the Press (LBH Pers) executive director Nawawi Bahrudin told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

He further warned racial and religious sentiments might be at play in 2019 as well, with concurrent legislative and presidential elections being held in April that year.

“Exploiting racial and religious sentiments is an easy way to gain political support,” said Nawawi.

He further said that when racial and religious sentiments were at play, the police would “harvest” defamation and hate speech complaints while at the same time being “overwhelmed” amid a “staggering” rise in reported libel cases.

“If law enforcement authorities are unable to handle the libel cases, the problems will continue to grow. People themselves will resolve the problems by bullying and intimidating others,” said Nawawi. Based on data from the National Police’s Criminal Investigation Department (Bareskrim), 2,700 libel or defamation cases were filed with the police in 2017.

The police reports were filed under Article 27 of the 2008 Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE) Law, which stipulates criminal punishment for a person found guilty of distributing, transmitting and/or producing libellous electronic information accessible to the public.

Although the defamation article has been deemed constitutional, LBH Pers says it has often been misused to hamper freedom of expression in the internet. The heavy criminal sentence stipulated in the article has led to many parties attempting to criminalize freedom of expression.

Nawawi said there were still a lot of negative impacts of the Jakarta gubernatorial election in 2017. Intimidation against minority groups has been on the rise since the sentencing of former Jakarta governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama to two years in prison for blasphemy.

LBH Pers said political tensions that heated up following Ahok’s blasphemy conviction and the Jakarta election had pushed hardline groups to bully and intimidate anyone that commented on religion, especially Islam.

Nawawi warned that in 2018, there might be a rise in hate speech. “The issue is not that we have to promote self-censorship, but all societal elements must be wise in choosing their words so others will not be encouraged to engage in either bullying or intimidation that could lead to legal action,” he said.

With the uncovering of Saracen, an online syndicate believed to have been involved in creating and spreading hoax news for commercial purposes, the potential growth of fake news has become another factor Indonesian people should be worried about this year.

On Thursday, the Pekanbaru District Court in Riau sentenced M. Abdullah Harsono, a member and administrator of Saracen, to two years and eight months in prison.

Abdullah was found guilty of “intentionally spreading information to incite hatred” on social media and violating the 2008 ITE Law.

Ade Wahyudin, a lawyer with LBH Pers, said that in 2018 there might be more cases of criminalization involving the ITE Law.

People would intimidate others’ freedom not only using libel accusations but also hatred based on ethnicity or race.

“Unfortunately, journalists and media companies are not brave enough to legally process the perpetrators,” Ade said. As a result, impunity remains and the police would rather ignore the cases than legally process them. LBH Pers recorded that in 2017 there were 63 cases of violence against journalists and their news sources. (ami)