GUIDELINES FOR CYBER MEDIA REPORTING

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 is also an integral part of freedom of opinion, freedom of expression, and freedom of the press.

 

Cyber media possesses specific characteristics that necessitate guidelines to ensure its management is carried out professionally, fulfilling its functions, rights, and obligations in accordance with Law Number 40 of 1999 concerning the Press and the Journalistic Code of Ethics. For this purpose, the Press Council, along with press organizations, cyber media managers, and the public, have formulated the Guidelines for Cyber Media Reporting as follows:

1. Scope

  • a. Cyber Media refers to any form of media that utilizes the internet medium and conducts journalistic activities, and meets the requirements of the Press Law and the Press Company Standards established by the Press Council.

  • b. User Generated Content refers to all content created and/or published by cyber media users, including but not limited to articles, images, comments, audio, videos, and various forms of uploads attached to the 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 go through verification.

  • b. News that may cause harm to another party requires verification within the same news item to fulfill the principles of accuracy and balance.

  • c. The provisions in item (a) above are exempted, provided that:

    • 1) The news genuinely contains an urgent public interest;

    • 2) The primary source of the news is clearly identified, credible, and competent;

    • 3) The subject of the news who needs to be confirmed cannot be located and/or interviewed;

    • 4) The media provides an explanation to the readers that the news still requires further verification, which will be pursued as soon as possible. The explanation must be included at the end of the same news item, in parentheses and in italics.

  • d. After publishing news in accordance with item (c), the media is obliged to continue verification efforts, and once verification is obtained, the results must be included in an updated news story with a link to the unverified news.

3. User Generated Content

  • a. Cyber media is obliged to state the terms and conditions regarding User Generated Content clearly and visibly, which must not contradict Law No. 40 of 1999 concerning the Press and the Journalistic Code of Ethics.

  • b. Cyber media requires every user to complete membership registration and log in beforehand to be able to publish any form of User Generated Content. Provisions regarding log-in will be further regulated.

  • c. In the registration process, cyber media must require users to provide written consent that the published User Generated Content:

    • 1) Does not contain false, defamatory, sadistic, or obscene content;

    • 2) Does not contain content that harbors prejudice and hatred related to ethnicity, religion, race, and inter-group relations (SARA), or encourages acts of violence;

    • 3) Does not contain discriminatory content based on differences in gender and language, and does not degrade the dignity of the weak, the poor, the sick, the mentally disabled, or the physically disabled.

  • d. Cyber media holds absolute authority to edit or delete User Generated Content that violates item (c).

  • e. Cyber media is obliged to provide a complaint mechanism for User Generated Content deemed to violate the provisions in item (c). This mechanism must be provided in a place that is easily accessible to users.

  • f. Cyber media is obliged to edit, delete, and take corrective action against any reported User Generated Content that violates the provisions of item (c), as soon as possible and proportionally, at the latest 2 x 24 hours after the complaint is received.

  • g. Cyber media that has complied with the provisions in items (a), (b), (c), and (f) shall not be held liable for any issues arising from the publication of content that violates the provisions in item (c).

  • h. Cyber media is held responsible for reported User Generated Content if it fails to take corrective action after the time limit specified in item (f).

4. Retraction, Correction, and Right of Reply

  • a. Retractions, corrections, and the right of reply refer to the Press Law, the Journalistic Code of Ethics, and the Guidelines for the Right of Reply established by the Press Council.

  • b. Retractions, corrections, and/or the right of reply must be linked to the news item being retracted, corrected, or granted the right of reply.

  • c. In every retraction, correction, and right of reply news item, the publication time of said retraction, correction, and/or right of reply must be specified.

  • d. If a news item from a specific cyber media outlet is disseminated by other cyber media, then:

    • 1) The responsibility of the cyber media that produced the news is limited to the news published on that specific cyber media outlet or cyber media under its technical authority;

    • 2) News corrections made by a cyber media outlet must also be carried out by other cyber media outlets that quote the news from the corrected cyber media outlet;

    • 3) Media that disseminates news from a cyber media outlet and fails to make corrections in accordance with those made by the owner and/or creator of the news shall be fully responsible for all legal consequences resulting from the uncorrected news.

  • e. In accordance with the Press Law, cyber media outlets that fail to accommodate the right of reply may be subject to criminal fines of up to Rp500,000,000 (Five hundred million rupiah).

5. News Removal

  • a. News that has been published cannot be removed due to censorship from parties outside the editorial team, except for issues concerning SARA, decency, the future of children, the traumatic experiences of victims, or based on other special considerations established by the Press Council.

  • b. Other cyber media outlets are obliged to follow the removal of news citations from the original media that has removed the item.

  • c. The removal of news must be accompanied by the reason for removal and announced to the public.

6. Advertising

  • a. Cyber media is obliged to clearly distinguish between news products and advertisements.

  • b. Any news/article/content that constitutes an advertisement and/or paid content must include the label ‘advertorial’, ‘advertisement’, ‘ads’, ‘sponsored’, or other words explaining that the news/article/content is an advertisement.

7. Copyright

Cyber media is obliged to respect copyright as regulated in the prevailing laws and regulations.

8. Inclusion of Guidelines

Cyber media is obliged to include these Guidelines for Cyber Media Reporting on its media platform clearly and visibly.

9. Disputes

The final assessment regarding disputes over the implementation of these Guidelines for Cyber Media Reporting shall be resolved by the Press Council.

Jakarta, February 3, 2012

(These Guidelines were signed by the Press Council and the press community in Jakarta, February 3, 2012).