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View all search resultsContent moderation rule threatens freedom of speech
Ensuring freedom of speech in the digital age is an arduous task for both digital platforms and the government.
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T
he Communication and Information Ministry’s attempt to regulate content moderation at private “electronic system organizers” (ESOs) – including digital platforms that host user-generated content like social media platforms, online marketplaces and blogs – without sufficient due process would concentrate regulatory power over the internet in the hands of the government, which in turn jeopardizes its citizens’ right to freedom of speech.
Without much fanfare, in November 2020 the communication and information minister issued Ministerial Regulation No. 5/2020 on Private ESOs as the implementing regulation for Government Regulation No. 71/2019 on Electronic Systems and Transactions. The ministerial regulation requires all private ESOs to register with the ministry by May 24, 2021 and comply with a provision that grants the government access to their systems and data. Failure to do so would see them blocked.
Private ESOs are also required to ensure that as an intermediary, their platforms do not contain or facilitate the spread of “prohibited content”. It obliges private ESOs to proactively filter user-generated content (UGC) that are posted to their platform in line with the government regulation, even if they already had community guidelines in place.
The ministerial regulation certainly gives the government more control over digital platforms. This aspect was apparently overlooked by Indonesian media and citizens, however, as evident in the absence of public debate over the regulation until a couple of weeks prior to the registration deadline.
Just a few days before the deadline, the minister amended the regulation through Ministerial Regulation No. 10/2021, but only after the regulation came under international spotlight. Human rights groups such as Human Rights Watch and Electronic Frontier Foundation called on the Indonesian government to suspend the implementation of such a “repressive” regulation, arguing that it violated the international standards of freedom of expression and could pose a greater risk to Indonesian citizens in the long run.
Ministerial Regulation No. 10/2021 extends the registration deadline to six months after the establishment of the Investment Ministry’s Online Single Submission Risk-Based Business Licensing system. This licensing system began a trial run on June 2, 2021 as per Ministerial Circular No. 14/2021. This automatically pushes the enactment of Ministerial Regulation No. 5/2020 to the end of this year.
Statistics Indonesia data showed that social media was the primary reason 87 percent of Indonesian users accessed the internet. As of January 2021, roughly half the population, or around 170 million people, were social media users (We Are Social and Hootsuite, 2021).
