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Cyber Media Guidelines

Freedom of opinion, expression, and the press is a human right protected by the 1945 Constitution (Undang-Undang Dasar 1945). Cyber media are part of that freedom, so their management must rest on responsibility, professionalism, and compliance with Law No. 40 of 1999 on the Press (Undang-Undang Nomor 40 Tahun 1999 tentang Pers, or the Press Law) and the Journalistic Code of Ethics (Kode Etik Jurnalistik).

Digitals Blog prepared these guidelines with reference to the Cyber Media Reporting Guidelines (Pedoman Pemberitaan Media Siber) issued by the Indonesian Press Council (Dewan Pers), and applies them in managing all content on this site.

1. Scope

  • Cyber media means any form of media that uses the internet and carries out journalistic activity in accordance with the Press Law and the standards set by the Press Council.
  • User-generated content means any content created and published by users of a cyber media outlet, including articles, images, comments, audio, video, and other uploads attached to the outlet.

2. News Verification and Balance

  • In principle, every news report goes through verification.
  • A report that could harm another party must be verified so that it is fair and balanced.
  • Exceptions apply only when the report concerns an urgent public interest; the original source is clearly identified, credible, and competent; the subject of the report cannot be located or interviewed; and the outlet tells readers that the report still requires further verification.
  • Once a report covered by such an exception has been published, the newsroom must continue verifying it and publish the result, with a link to the unverified report.

3. User-Generated Content

If Digitals Blog opens a space for user-generated content, such as a comments section, the following provisions apply:

  • Users must agree to terms and conditions that prohibit false, defamatory, sadistic, and obscene content; content that expresses prejudice or hatred on grounds of ethnicity, religion, race, and intergroup relations (SARA) or advocates violence; and content that discriminates on the basis of gender or language, or that demeans the dignity of people who are weak, poor, sick, or mentally or physically disabled.
  • The newsroom has the authority to edit or delete user-generated content that violates those provisions.
  • The newsroom provides a complaint mechanism for violating user-generated content and acts on each complaint no later than 2 x 24 hours (48 hours) after receiving it.

4. Rectifications, Corrections, and Right of Reply

  • Rectifications, corrections, and the right of reply follow the Press Law, the Journalistic Code of Ethics, and the Right of Reply Guidelines (Pedoman Hak Jawab) issued by the Press Council.
  • A rectification, correction, and/or right of reply is linked from the report that was rectified, corrected, or answered, and carries a note of when it was published.
  • If a report is redistributed by another cyber media outlet, responsibility for the report stays with the outlet that produced it, while the outlet that redistributed it must also publish the rectification, correction, or right of reply.
  • A cyber media outlet that does not honor the right of reply may be sanctioned under the Press Law.

5. Removal of News

  • A published report cannot be removed for reasons of censorship from outside the newsroom, except where it concerns ethnicity, religion, race, and intergroup relations (SARA), decency, the future of a child, a victim's traumatic experience, or other special considerations determined by the Press Council.
  • Other cyber media outlets must follow the removal of quotations from a report that the original outlet has taken down.
  • Every removal of a report is accompanied by a reason that is announced to the public.

6. Advertising

  • Cyber media must clearly distinguish between news products and advertisements.
  • Any news report, article, or content that is an advertisement and/or paid content must be labeled "advertorial", "advertisement", "ads", "sponsored", or another word that makes clear the content is advertising.

Digitals Blog respects copyright as regulated in the applicable laws and regulations.

8. Publication of the Guidelines

These guidelines are posted openly on the Digitals Blog site so that users can read them easily.

9. Disputes

The final assessment of any dispute over how these guidelines are implemented is settled by the Press Council.