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Activists applaud decriminalization of false news
The Constitutional Court’s ruling that scrapped the criminal penalties for spreading hoaxes is applauded by experts and activists as a good foundation for freedom of speech, although much work remains to uphold civil liberties in the country.
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A general view of the Constitutional Court is pictured in Jakarta on Oct. 2, 2023. (AFP/Yasuyoshi Chiba)
The Constitutional Court’s (MK) ruling that scrapped the criminal penalties for spreading hoaxes is applauded by experts and activists as a good foundation for freedom of speech, although much work remains to uphold civil liberties in the country.
In a ruling issued on Thursday, the court annulled Articles 14 and 15 of the 1946 Criminal Code Law (KUHP), which penalized anyone who spread false or misleading information to create public disturbance.
The nine-justice bench said the term “false news” in the two provisions was too vague to determine what constitutes a truth and that the two provisions in question were ambiguous on what constitutes public “disturbance”. The court said these could lead to restrictions on freedom of thought and overcriminalization of those who simply intended to criticize those in power.
The petition was filed in July last year by two activists Haris Azhar and Fatia Maulidiyanti, who at the time were both standing a criminal trial for defaming Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister Luhut Pandjaitan and spreading misinformation when criticizing the senior minister in a YouTube video.
The two activists turned to the Constitutional Court to challenge the two Criminal Code articles on spreading false information and an online defamation article in the 2016 Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE) Law that were inflicted on them by prosecutors at the criminal court. Haris and Fatia were acquitted on all counts in January of this year, before the Constitutional Court issued the ruling on their petition.
Read also: Relief as court acquits activists in Luhut’s defamation case
Two other petitioners in the Constitutional Court case were the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) and the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI).
