Insult Laws and Freedom of Expression?as Indonesia Understands It

• Date: 01 October 2022

e Indonesian Journal of International & Comparative Law

ISSN: 2338-7602; E-ISSN: 2338-770X

http://www.ijil.org

© 2021 e Institute for Migrant Rights Press

insult law and frEEdom of

ExprEssion—as indonEsia

undErstands it

A “vernAcUlAr domeSticAtion”?

Riezky Aprilia, Sigid Suseno, Komariah E. Sapardjaja, & Widati

Wulandari

Faculty of Law, Universitas Padjajaran

E-mail: riezkyaprilia@outlook.com; sigid.suseno@unpad.ac.id; widati.

wulandari@unpad.ac.id

In 2016, Indonesia adopted the controversial Law no. 19 of 2016 on the Elec-

tronic Information and Transactions (hereinaer: “ITE Law”). Because it in-

cludes harsh sentences for defamation, the ITE Law has been widely condemned

as a sign of democratic regression. In this paper, we argue below that Indonesia’s

adoption of the ITE Law reveals a continuity in the way the nation conceives

of the notion of the right to freedom of expression dierently from the Western

or liberal model. Further, we argue that the ITE Law provides a departure

point from which to theorize on what we could call a “vernacular do-

mestication” of insult law as a transplanted legal category, indicating the

centrality of “cultural experience” in the constution of Indonesia’s legal

understanding.

Keywords: Defamation, Law and Culture, Legal eory, Comparative Law, Human

Rights

IX Indonesian Journal of International & Comparative Law 553-72 (October 2022)

554

Aprilia, Suseno, Sapardjaja, & Wulandari

INTRODUCTION

In 2016, Indonesia adopted the controversial Law no. 19 of 2016 on the

Electronic Information and Transactions (hereinaer: “ITE Law”). Be-

cause it includes harsh sentences for defamation, the ITE Law has been

widely condemned as a sign of democratic regression.1 For example, a

conviction for defamation may result in a ne of up to 1 billion rupiah,

in addition to six years imprisonment.2 Most importantly, the ITE Law

denes “defamation” as “a public accusation that is made intentionally

to harm a person’s honor or reputation.”3 Undoubtedly this catch-all

term covers not only defamation but also “blasphemy, insults, back-

biting, libel, maligning, traducing, vilication, deprecation, detraction,

disparagement, and demeaning.” As such, it is no exaggeration to say

that the ITE Law is an example of “overcriminalization.”4 For that rea-

son, the ITE Law has been described variously as “an abuse of power by

1. See e.g., Dewi Elvia Muthiariny, ITE Law Hampers Democracy Climate: Legal Expert,

T., Nov. 12, 2020, https://en.tempo.co/read/1404829/ite-law-hampers-

democracy-climate-legal-expert (last visited Apr 6, 2023).

2. Undang-Undang Nomor 19 Tahun 2016 tentang Undang-Undang Informasi dan

Transaksi Elektronik [Law No. 19 of 2016 on the Electronic Information and

Transactions ], 45A, https://web.kominfo.go.id/sites/default/les/users/4761/UU%20

19%20Tahun%202016.pdf (last visited Mar 22, 2023).

3. Undang-Undang Nomor 19 Tahun 2016 tentang Undang-Undang Informasi dan

Transaksi Elektronik [Law No. 19 of 2016 on the Electronic Information and

Transactions ], art. 45, https://web.kominfo.go.id/sites/default/les/users/4761/

UU%2019%20Tahun%202016.pdf (last visited Mar 22, 2023).

4. Mochamad Dani Pratama Huzaini, Catatan tentang Problem Penerapan Delik

Defamation dalam UU ITE [A Note on the Problematic of the Enforcement of

Defamation in the ITE Law], H O, Apr. 13, 2022, https://www.

hukumonline.com/stories/article/lt625295c004e2b/catatan-tent ang-problem-

penerapan-delik-defamation-dalam-uu-ite.