Govt Yet to Acquire Official Draft of Broadcasting Bill, Minister Claims
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24 May 2024 23:52 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Minister of Communication and Informatics Budi Arie Setiadi said the government had not received the draft for the Broadcasting Bill from the House of Representatives (DPR). The public highlighted this Bill as several provisions under the draft potentially hinder press freedom in Indonesia.
"As of now, the government has not acquired the official draft of the Broadcasting Bill,” said Budi Arie in an online press conference on Friday, May 24, 2024. Budi said neither his Ministry nor the Ministry of State Secretariat received the draft of the revision of the Broadcasting Law No. 32 of 2002.
Therefore, Budi Arie said the government is currently unable to comment on the recent Broadcasting Bill discourse. He said the government would wait for the. However, Budi Arie admitted he already knows about the controversial articles under the Bill. According to him, the draft was not final.
“The (Bill) is not official yet, we don’t have it on our hands. We only got the WhatsApp version, the The draft isn't officially on our table. "We only got the WhatsApp version, the obscure version, since there is no official draft yet,” he said, claiming the government strives to adhere to the principle of freedom of press and expression.
"That's all from us regarding the Broadcasting Law," the minister said.
It is known that the document dated March 27, 2024, was criticized because it contained articles that had the potential to threaten press freedom. The Broadcasting Bill as obtained by Tempo had 14 chapters with a total of 149 articles. Several articles threaten to hamper press freedom in Indonesia, namely the prohibition on exclusive broadcasting of investigative journalism.
SULTAN ABDURRAHMAN
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