World Press Freedom Day; Acts of Violence Still Happening, Says LBH Pers

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Legal Aid for the Press (LBH Pers) on Wednesday presented its data surrounding the acts of violence against members of the press in commemorating world press freedom day.

LBH Press’ executive director Ade Wahyudin highlighted the fact that in 2022 alone, there were 51 cases where the media, journalists, news sources, press activists, and college reporters became subject to acts of violence. 

“Based on those cases, there were at least 113 individual victims and organizations,” he wrote in the statement.

Perpetrators Dominated by Law Enforcers and Public Officials 

Ade said the perpetrators were still dominated by law enforcement officers, including public officials, aides, and their relatives in the form of legal, physical attacks, and through digital platforms. Issues of violence on digital platforms continue to increase annually and is considered a serious threat to press freedom.

There are at least seven cases of digital attacks on websites or social media accounts. The type of attack is dominated by the distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) method, which is a strategy used against Narasi.tv, Konde.co, and Batamnews.co.id.

Other forms of digital attacks include hacking websites or social media accounts, duplicating websites, and spreading disinformation which aim to degrade the credibility of the targets.

“The lack of protection towards independence for journalistic works is exacerbated by the lack of legal protection by the government and law enforcement officials in handling press cases," said Ade.

He revealed that in the last three years, a number of attacks against the media and journalists that were reported to the police were suspended without a clear resolution process. The suspended cases include allegations of persecution and obstruction of journalistic work carried out against a number of journalists during #reformasidikosupsi rallies and attacks against reporters for Katadata.co.id (October 2019), reporters for Kompas.com (October 2019), and reporters for LKBN Antara (September 2019).

Apart from that, there have also been cases of hacking against mass media websites such as Tempo.co (August 2020), Tirto.id (August 2020), and the DDos attack on Narasi.TV (September 2022) that remains unsolved. 

Some Regulations Threaten Press Freedom 

The Legal Aid for the Press also highlighted regulatory products that could potentially harm press freedom. Such regulations include the latest Criminal Code (KUHP) which consists of Articles on defamation and slander, hoaxes, and several others. 

There is also a Personal Data Protection Act with the potential to criminalize journalists who reveal the criminal record of public officials; and the Communications and Information Ministry’s (Kominfo) Regulation Article No.5/2020 concerning excessive oversights for electronic system operators including media companies.

Ade emphasized that journalists, and the general public, carrying out their functions, rights, obligations, and roles in accordance with the provisions of the applicable laws and regulations are subject to legal protections by the government. 

EKA YUDHA SAPUTRA 

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