Speaking during a seminar held by Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University (UIN Jakarta) on Tuesday, Mahfud said the regulation would go a long way in providing aid for the country’s ailing news companies, which have long struggled to compete with the prominence of social media.

“We often see a news article from a media company that would be modified without [consent from the journalists] and reposted [by people on social media], who in turn will get the money,” Mahfud said. “That’s why the government is currently in the midst of preparing a regulation on publishers’ rights, which will be ready in the near future.”

Mahfud, who also serves as interim communications and information minister following the arrest of NasDem Party politician Johnny G. Plate on graft charges, said there were around 1,000 news companies in Indonesia as of 2022, compared to what he describes to be some 800,000 social media “buzzer” accounts.

“These [buzzer accounts] are everywhere, dominating our daily lives. All the while, the mainstream media companies are getting [financially] weaker, since there are less people reading [their news articles], and some [media companies] have even resorted to aligning themselves with certain political interests,” Mahfud said.

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As the curtains are set to rise on next year’s election, Mahfud called on media companies to stand firm as the fourth estate of democracy and maintain the principles of being independent and objective.