Freedom of opinion, freedom of expression, and press freedom are human rights protected by Pancasila, the 1945 Constitution, and the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The existence of cyber media in Indonesia is also part of freedom of opinion, freedom of expression, and press freedom.Cyber media have specific characteristics, making guidelines necessary to ensure their management is carried out professionally and that they fulfill their functions, rights, and obligations in accordance with Law No. 40 of 1999 on the Press and the Journalistic Code of Ethics. Therefore, the Press Council, together with press organizations, cyber media operators, and the public, has formulated the Cyber Media News Guidelines as follows:
1. ScopeCyber media include all forms of media that use the internet and carry out journalistic activities, and comply with the requirements of the Press Law and Press Company Standards established by the Press Council. User Generated Content (UGC) is any content created and/or published by users of cyber media, including articles, images, comments, audio, videos, and other uploads associated with cyber media, such as blogs, forums, reader or viewer comments, and other forms.
2. News Verification and Balancea. In principle, all news must be verified.
b. News that may harm other parties requires verification of the same news to fulfill the principles of accuracy and balance.
c. The provision in point (a) is exempted, provided that:
The news contains an urgent public interest;The primary news source is clearly identified, credible, and competent;The subject of the news that must be confirmed is unknown or cannot be interviewed;The media informs readers that the news still requires further verification, which will be carried out as soon as possible. The explanation is included at the end of the same news article, in parentheses and italicized.
d. After publishing news according to point (c), the media must continue verification efforts, and once verification is obtained, the result must be included in an updated news article with a link to the previously unverified news.
3. User Generated Content (UGC)a. Cyber media must clearly publish terms and conditions regarding UGC that do not conflict with Law No. 40 of 1999 on the Press and the Journalistic Code of Ethics.
b. Cyber media require each user to register and log in before publishing any UGC. Further rules regarding login will be established.
c. During registration, users must provide written consent that the published UGC:
Does not contain false, defamatory, sadistic, or obscene content;Does not contain content that promotes prejudice or hatred based on ethnicity, religion, race, or groups (SARA), nor encourages violence;Does not contain discriminatory content based on gender or language, and does not demean the dignity of the weak, poor, sick, mentally or physically disabled.
d. Cyber media have the absolute authority to edit or remove UGC that violates point (c) and must provide a complaint mechanism easily accessible to users.
e. Cyber media must edit, remove, or correct UGC that violates point (c) as soon as possible, no later than 48 hours after receiving a complaint.
f. Cyber media that comply with points (a), (b), (c), and (f) are not liable for issues arising from publishing content that violates point (c).
g. Cyber media are responsible for UGC reported if no corrective action is taken within the specified timeframe.
4. Retraction, Correction, and Right of Replya. Retraction, correction, 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. Retractions, corrections, and/or rights of reply must be linked to the corrected or replied-to news article.
c. Each news article must indicate the date and time of the retraction, correction, and/or right of reply.
d. If a news article from a certain cyber media is disseminated by another cyber media:
The responsibility of the original media is limited to the news published on that media or media under its technical control;Corrections made by a cyber media must also be applied by other media that cite the corrected news;Media that disseminate news from another cyber media without applying the same correction are fully responsible for all legal consequences of the uncorrected news.f. In accordance with the Press Law, cyber media that fail to facilitate the right of reply may be subject to a criminal fine of up to IDR 500,000,000 (five hundred million rupiah).
5. News Withdrawala. Published news cannot be withdrawn due to external censorship requests, except in cases of SARA, morality, child protection, traumatic experiences of victims, or other special considerations determined by the Press Council.
b. Other cyber media must comply with the withdrawal of news quotes from the original media.
c. News withdrawal must include the reason for withdrawal and be announced to the public.
6. Advertisementsa. Cyber media must clearly distinguish between news content and advertisements.b. Any news/article/content that is an advertisement or paid content must be labeled with "advertorial," "advertisement," "ads," "sponsored," or other wording indicating it is paid content.
7. CopyrightCyber media must respect copyright as regulated by applicable laws and regulations.
8. Publication of GuidelinesCyber media must clearly display these Cyber Media News Guidelines on their platform.
9. DisputesThe final decision on disputes regarding the implementation of these Cyber Media News Guidelines is resolved by the Press Council.
Jakarta, February 3, 2012(These guidelines were signed by the Press Council and the press community in Jakarta on February 3, 2012.)