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After mulling over revising cyberlaw, the government has second thoughts
The government appeared to have second thoughts about revising the Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE) Law after President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo called last week for a revision that could end criminalization of online speech.
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Rallying cry: Members of the Corruption Eradication People’s Committee rally outside the State Palace on Jan. 8, 2019, to demand that the government abolish articles in the Electronic Information and Transaction (ITE) Law they deem to be a threat to freedom of expression. (JP/Seto Wardhana)
T
he government appeared to be in no rush to revise the Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE) Law after President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo called last week for an amendment that could end criminalization of online speech.
The reason was that the government needed time to identify the problems with the draconian law before deciding whether or not a revision was necessary and urgent.
“We are studying whether [issuing] guidelines [for the use of the ITE Law for the police and other law enforcers] is sufficient or if the law needs to be revised,” said Donny Gahral Adrian, the lead expert staffer at the Executive Office of the President.
The assessment is being led by the Office of the Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister, which has formed a team to devise the police guidelines and another team to identify how “problematic and discriminatory” the provisions are. The second team will gather opinions from government stakeholders, experts and activists.
“If [we find that the Iaw] needs a revision then let’s revise it,” Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Mahfud MD said.
The government's apparent second thoughts put in question the seriousness of its plan to revise the cyberlaw, particularly after Jokowi sent a strong message last week that the law itself was “the source” of the problems and its revision was “in particular to remove vague provisions".
Read also: Ball in Jokowi’s court on ITE Law revisions
