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Publishers’ rights rule still applies to Meta, ministry says
Meta says it understands that it will not be required to pay for news content voluntarily posted by news publishers.
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A pedestrian walks past the Meta logo in front of Facebook’s headquarters in Menlo Park, California, on Oct. 28, 2021. (AFP/Justin Sullivan/Getty Images North America)
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eta has said it will be relatively insulated from the impact of Indonesia’s newly signed publishers’ rights rule, which requires tech giants to pay local media outlets for news content presented on their platforms.
“After several consultations with stakeholders, we understood that Meta would not be required to pay for news content voluntarily posted by news publishers onto our platform,” Rafael Frankel, Meta’s public policy director for Southeast Asia, told The Jakarta Post in a statement on Wednesday.
He also said he appreciated that the government recognized the benefit that news publishers could get from the services Meta provided.
The presidential regulation establishing the publishers’ rights rule was signed on Tuesday, National Press Day, after months of delays resulting from stalled negotiations between publishers and digital platforms. It will only come into force in August.
Usman Kansong, director-general of information and public communication at the Communications and Information Ministry, said the publishers' rights rule made no exceptions for digital platforms, including Meta.
All digital platforms were required to negotiate partnerships with media firms that could take the form of paid licensing, revenue sharing or data sharing, among other arrangements.
Aside from paying for news, the regulation also outlines wider responsibilities for tech platforms, such as prioritizing news content produced by verified media outlets, contributing to journalist training programs and curbing the spread of fake news in the country.
