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Digital violence threatens free speech: Komnas HAM
A majority of violations of free speech occurred in the digital space, about 52 percent of the total cases.
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he National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) has found that digital threats against free speech have become increasingly prominent in the past two years, as the pandemic has forced people to rely more on digital technology.
The human rights body recorded a total of 44 incidents that violated freedom of speech in 2020 and 2021, it said in its annual report on Monday. Some 29 cases were from complaints the commission had received, while the remaining 15 cases were from its monitoring activities.
A majority of violations of free speech occurred in the digital space, about 52 percent of the total cases, followed by offline incidents against the media, at 19 percent, against publicly expressed opinions (17 percent), against scientific discussions (10 percent) and the remaining 2 percent was against people testifying in court.
Digital harassment, ranging from hacking and website hijacking to doxing and Zoombombing, has been the most common form of violation targeting human rights activists and anticorruption activists, students and journalists.
An example was on April 22 of last year, when researcher Ravio Patra’s WhatsApp account was allegedly hacked and used to send out a compromising broadcast message calling for mass rioting. That same night, he was arrested and held on charges of treason and inciting violence. His controversial arrest led many to worry that similar action could be taken against activists in the future.
The past two years saw some 18 social media and digital-messaging accounts owned by rights and anticorruption activists, students and journalists being hijacked.
Two news websites tirto.id and tempo.co, meanwhile, were hacked in late 2020, in what activists believe were attempts to silence the media.
At least seven articles on tirto.id were allegedly deleted by the hackers, including some stories that scrutinized the coronavirus drug development involving the State Intelligence Agency (BIN) and the Indonesian Military (TNI).
Read also: Tempo.co, tirto.id report cyberattacks to Jakarta police
Komnas HAM commissioner Choirul Anam promised to improve its digital monitoring regarding freedom of speech.
"In [monitoring freedom of speech] in the digital space, our human resources are not sufficient, we need to be supported by [advanced] technology so that we can monitor it optimally,” Choirul said on Monday.
The commission also found that the use of the criminal charges of defamation and hate speech and the controversial Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE) Law to silence critics also remained a serious threat to freedom of speech in the past two years.
One notable case was against South Sulawesi-based journalist Muhammad Asrul, who was sentenced to three months in prison for defamation under the ITE Law in November of last year, after writing three articles on a graft case allegedly involving Farid Kasim Judas, son of the mayor of Palopo, South Sulawesi. Farid, who is also an official at the city administration, reported the journalist to the police.
Read also: Indonesia’s 2021 human rights record ‘alarming’: Amnesty
Komnas HAM recommended that the government should create a mechanism to resolve defamation cases and avoid them being turned into a method of criminalization.
Choirul said that his office would also encourage law enforcement agencies to use Komnas HAM's documents on principles of free speech protection when handling defamation cases.
In a separate report published also on Monday, the rights body found state violence continued to occur, particularly in incidents involving the police.
It recorded at least 39 incidents of police brutality in various forms from beating to choking, which either traumatized or injured 20 people and the deaths of 19 others.
The incidents happened in Jakarta, South Sumatra, North Sumatra, Central Java and West Java.
