IO – The Great Indonesia Movement (Gerakan Indonesia Raya – “Gerindra”) Party has expressed its support for a revision of the current Electronic Information and Transaction Law (UU ITE), in line with prevailing popular opinion. “In practice, the Law concerning Electronic Information and Transaction has been affected by the extremely rapid development of information technology. We need to quickly adjust when there are new technologies related to information dissemination,” explained Gerindra’s General Secretary Ahmad Muzani on Monday (01/03/2021).
Muzani stated that part of the existing Electronic Information and Transaction Law is already outdated. Revision of the Law is necessary – not only for the sake of democracy, but also to adapt to the current configuration of information technology. “We agree with President Jokowi that some “loophole regulations” in the Electronic Information and Transaction Law should be revised. Our democracy has been marred by loophole regulations in this Law, which have resulted in a number of citizens being criminalized. That poses a threat to people’s freedom of opinion, a basic, constitutionally guaranteed right of all Indonesian citizens,” he said.
Muzani went on to say that revision of loophole regulations must be able to clarify all technical aspects of this law. The revision must eliminate all potential for unfair prosecution which intimidates our citizens. “Therefore, what needs to be eliminated in “loophole regulations” is the “loophole”, not the “regulations”. Regulations concerning immoral conduct, besmirching of reputation, hate speech, social discrimination, etc. must stay in the Electronic Information and Transaction Law. It’s just that the definitions must be clarified as precisely as possible,” he said.
Muzani declared that Gerindra Party basically wants a democratic climate that follows the noble values of our nation: “We want a responsible democracy, a fair and wise democracy. We don’t want excesses under the name of democracy – we do not encourage “freedom of speech” to be interpreted as “freedom to defame others”, “freedom to insult others”, and such. On the other hand, we don’t want people’s petty errors to be criminalized unfairly and unwisely,” he said. (Des)