Freedom of opinion, freedom of expression, and freedom of the press are human rights protected by Pancasila, the 1945 Constitution, and the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The existence of cyber media in Indonesia also forms part of freedom of opinion, freedom of expression, and freedom of the press.
Cyber media has unique characteristics that require guidelines to ensure its professional management, fulfilling its functions, rights, and obligations as stipulated in Law Number 40 of 1999 concerning the Press and the Journalistic Code of Ethics. To this end, the Press Council, along with press organizations, cyber media managers, and the public, has developed the following Cyber Media Reporting Guidelines:
1. Scope
a. Cyber Media is any form of media that uses the internet as a vehicle and carries out journalistic activities, and meets the requirements of the Press Law and the Press Company Standards set by the Press Council.
b. User Generated Content is any content created and/or published by cyber media users, including articles, images, comments, sounds, videos and various forms of uploads attached to cyber media, such as blogs, forums, reader or viewer comments, and other forms.
2. Verification and balance of news
a. In principle, every news item must be verified.
b. News that could be detrimental to another party requires verification in the same news item to meet the principles of accuracy and balance.
c. The provisions in point (a) above are excluded, provided that:
1) The news item truly contains urgent public interest;
2) The first news source is a source whose identity is clearly stated, credible and competent;
3) The subject of the news item whose whereabouts must be confirmed is unknown and/or cannot be interviewed;
4) The media provides an explanation to readers that the news item still requires further verification which will be attempted as soon as possible. The explanation is included at the end of the same news item, in brackets and using italics.
d. After publishing the news item in accordance with point (c), the media is obliged to continue verification efforts, and after verification is obtained, the verification results are included in the updated news item with a link to the unverified news item.
3. User Generated Content
a. Cyber media must include terms and conditions regarding User-Generated Content that do not conflict with Law No. 40 of 1999 concerning the Press and the Journalistic Code of Ethics, which are placed clearly and visibly.
b. Cyber media requires every user to register for membership and go through the login process first to be able to publish all forms of User-Generated Content. Provisions regarding login will be regulated further.
c. In the registration, cyber media requires users to provide written consent that
Published User Generated Content:
1) Does not contain false, slanderous, sadistic, or obscene content;
2) Does not contain content that contains prejudice and hatred related to ethnicity, religion, race, and intergroup relations (SARA), as well as encouraging acts of violence;
3) Does not contain discriminatory content based on differences in gender and language, and does not demean the dignity of the weak, poor, sick, mentally disabled, or physically disabled.
d. Cyber media has absolute authority to edit or delete User-Generated Content that violates point (c).
e. Cyber media must provide a complaint mechanism for User-Generated Content that is deemed to violate the provisions in point (c). The mechanism must be provided in a place that is easily accessible to users.
f. Cyber media must edit, delete, and take corrective action for any User-Generated Content that is reported and violates the provisions in point (c), as soon as possible in a proportional manner no later than 2 x 24 hours after the complaint is received.
g. Cyber media that has fulfilled the provisions in points (a), (b), (c), and (f) is not burdened with responsibility for problems arising from the publication of content that violates the provisions in point (c).
h. Cyber media are responsible for reported User Generated Content if they do not take corrective action within the time limit as stated in point (f).
4. Errata, Corrections, and Right of Reply
a. Rectifications, corrections, and the right of reply refer to the Press Law, the Journalistic Code of Ethics, and the Right of Reply Guidelines established by the Press Council.
b. Rectifications, corrections, and/or the right of reply must be linked to the news that is being corrected, corrected, or given the right of reply.
c. In every news item regarding rectifications, corrections, and the right of reply, the time of publication of the rectification, correction, and/or the right of reply must be stated.
d. If a particular cyber media news item is disseminated by another cyber media, then:
1) The responsibility of the cyber media that created the news is limited to the news published in that cyber media or cyber media under its technical authority;
2) Corrections to news made by a cyber media must also be made by other cyber media that quote news from the corrected cyber media;
3) Media that disseminates news from a cyber media and does not make corrections to the news as made by the cyber media that owns and/or creates the news, is fully responsible for all legal consequences of the news that it has not corrected.
e. In accordance with the Press Law, cyber media that do not provide the right of reply can be subject to criminal sanctions in the form of a maximum fine of IDR 500,000,000 (five hundred million rupiah).
5. News Retraction
a. News that has been published cannot be withdrawn for reasons of censorship from parties outside the editorial team, except regarding issues of SARA, morality, the future of children, traumatic experiences of victims or based on other special considerations determined by the Press Council.
b. Other cyber media are required to follow the withdrawal of news quotes from the original media that have been withdrawn.
c. The withdrawal of news must be accompanied by the reasons for the withdrawal and announced to the public.
6. Advertisement
a. Cyber media must clearly distinguish between news products and advertisements.
b. Any news/articles/content that constitutes advertising or paid content must include the description ‘advertorial’, ‘advertisement’, ‘ads’, ‘sponsored’, or other words that explain that the news/articles/content is advertising.
7. Copyright
Cyber media are obliged to respect copyright as regulated in applicable laws and regulations.
8. Inclusion of Guidelines
Cyber media are required to include these Cyber Media Reporting Guidelines in their media in a clear and transparent manner.
9. Disputes
The final assessment of disputes regarding the implementation of these Cyber Media Reporting Guidelines will be resolved by the Press Council.
Jakarta, 3 February 2012
(This guideline was signed by the Press Council and the press community in Jakarta, 3 February 2012).
