Cyber Media Guidelines

CYBER MEDIA COVERAGE GUIDELINES

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 part of the freedom of opinion, freedom of expression, and freedom of the press.

Cyber media has special characteristics that require guidelines so that its management can be carried out professionally and fulfill its functions, rights, and obligations in accordance with Law Number 40 of 1999 on the Press and the Journalistic Code of Ethics. To that end, the Press Council, together with press organizations, cyber media managers, and the public, has formulated these Cyber Media Coverage Guidelines as follows:

1. Scope

Cyber Media is any form of media that uses the internet as its medium and conducts journalistic activities, and meets the requirements of the Press Law and the Press Company Standards set by the Press Council.
User Generated Content is all content created and/or published by cyber media users, including articles, images, comments, audio, video, 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

In principle, every news item must go through verification.
News that may harm other parties requires verification within the same news item to fulfill the principles of accuracy and balance.
The provision in point (a) above is exempted, provided that:
1. The news genuinely contains an urgent public interest;
2. The first source of the news is one whose identity is clearly stated, credible, and competent;
3. The subject of the news who must be confirmed is of unknown whereabouts and/or cannot be interviewed;
4. The media provides an explanation to readers that the news still requires further verification, which will be pursued as soon as possible. The explanation is placed at the end of the same news item, in parentheses and in italics.
After publishing news in accordance with point (c), the media is obliged to continue verification efforts, and once verification is obtained, the verification results are included in an updated news item with a link to the unverified news.

3. User Generated Content

Cyber media is obliged to include terms and conditions regarding User Generated Content that do not conflict with Law No. 40 of 1999 on the Press and the Journalistic Code of Ethics, placed clearly and plainly.
Cyber media requires every user to register for membership and to log in first in order to publish any form of User Generated Content. Provisions regarding logging in will be regulated further.
In such registration, cyber media requires the user to give written consent that the User Generated Content published:
1. Does not contain false, defamatory, sadistic, or obscene content;
2. Does not contain content carrying prejudice or hatred related to ethnicity, religion, race, and intergroup relations (SARA), nor advocates acts of violence;
3. Does not contain discriminatory content based on differences of gender and language, and does not demean the dignity of the weak, the poor, the sick, the mentally disabled, or the physically disabled.
Cyber media has absolute authority to edit or remove User Generated Content that conflicts with point (c).
Cyber media is obliged to provide a mechanism for complaints about User Generated Content deemed to violate the provisions of point (c). The mechanism must be provided in a place that is easily accessible to users.
Cyber media is obliged to edit, remove, and take corrective action on any User Generated Content that is reported and violates the provisions of point (c), as soon as possible and proportionally, no later than 2 x 24 hours after the complaint is received.
Cyber media that has fulfilled the provisions of points (a), (b), (c), and (f) is not burdened with responsibility for problems arising from the publication of content that violates point (c).
Cyber media is responsible for reported User Generated Content if it does not take corrective action after the time limit referred to in point (f).

4. Corrections, Rectifications, and Right of Reply

Corrections, rectifications, and the right of reply refer to the Press Law, the Journalistic Code of Ethics, and the Right of Reply Guidelines set by the Press Council.
Corrections, rectifications, and/or the right of reply must be linked to the news that is corrected, rectified, or granted the right of reply.
In every correction, rectification, and right-of-reply news item, the time of publishing the correction, rectification, and/or right of reply must be stated.
If a news item of a particular cyber medium is disseminated by another cyber medium, then:
1. The responsibility of the cyber medium that produced the news is limited to the news published on that cyber medium or cyber media under its technical authority;
2. A news correction made by one cyber medium must also be made by other cyber media that quote the news from the corrected cyber medium;
3. Media that disseminate news from a cyber medium and do not make corrections to the news as done by the owning and/or producing cyber medium are fully responsible for all legal consequences of the news they did not correct.
In accordance with the Press Law, cyber media that do not serve the right of reply may be subject to a criminal sanction of a fine of at most Rp500,000,000 (five hundred million rupiah).

5. Withdrawal of News

News that has been published cannot be withdrawn on grounds of censorship from parties outside the editorial team, except in matters related to SARA, decency, the future of children, the traumatic experiences of victims, or based on other special considerations determined by the Press Council.
Other cyber media are obliged to follow the withdrawal of quoted news from the original medium that has been withdrawn.
The withdrawal of news must be accompanied by the reason for withdrawal and announced to the public.

6. Advertising

Cyber media is obliged to clearly distinguish between news products and advertisements.
Every news/article/content that is an advertisement and/or paid content must include the label "advertorial", "iklan", "ads", "sponsored", or another word explaining that the news/article/content is an advertisement.

7. Copyright

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

8. Inclusion of the Guidelines

Cyber media is obliged to include these Cyber Media Coverage Guidelines on its medium clearly and plainly.

9. Disputes

The final assessment of disputes regarding the implementation of these Cyber Media Coverage Guidelines is settled by the Press Council.

Jakarta, 3 February 2012

Agreed by:
JOURNALIST ORGANIZATIONS AND PRESS COMPANY ORGANIZATIONS

Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI)
Indonesian Journalists Association (PWI)
Indonesian Television Journalists Association (IJTI)
Indonesian Local Television Association (ATVLI)
Indonesian Private Television Association (ATVSI)
Press Companies Union (SPS)
Indonesian National Private Radio Broadcasting Union (PRSSNI)

Acknowledged by
signed
Bagir Manan
Chairman of the Press Council