(ARTICLE 19/AJI/IFEX) – The following is a 19 November 2002 ARTICLE 19 press release: ANALYSIS OF INDONESIAN BROADCASTING BILL ARTICLE 19, FORUM-ASIA and the Indonesian Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) would like to draw attention to our concerns with certain provisions in the draft Broadcasting Bill currently before the Indonesian House of Representatives, highlighted in […]
(ARTICLE 19/AJI/IFEX) – The following is a 19 November 2002 ARTICLE 19 press release:
ANALYSIS OF INDONESIAN BROADCASTING BILL
ARTICLE 19, FORUM-ASIA and the Indonesian Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) would like to draw attention to our concerns with certain provisions in the draft Broadcasting Bill currently before the Indonesian House of Representatives, highlighted in an analysis of the draft Bill by ARTICLE 19, released on 13 November 2002. A particular concern is the continued government influence over licensing, the failure to transform the State broadcaster into an independent public service broadcaster, the draconian restrictions on re-broadcasting foreign news programmes and a number of repressive content restrictions.
The ARTICLE 19 analysis considers a number of provisions in the draft Bill in light of international and comparative standards relating to freedom of expression. Broadcast regulation is recognised as necessary under international law but two key principles must underpin this regulation: all powers must be exercised by bodies that are independent of political or commercial interference and the overriding goal of regulation must be to promote diversity.
The draft Bill contains a number of positive features and represents a significant improvement over the 1997 Broadcast Law, which has formally been in force since September 1999 but which has never been enforced. It recognises the important role of the three tiers of broadcasters – public, commercial and community, as well as subscription broadcasting services – in ensuring the free flow of information and ideas to the Indonesian public. It also establishes an independent body, the KPI, with responsibility for regulating and providing recommendations in the area of broadcasting.
At the same time, we have a number of concerns with the draft Bill. Despite the fact that it establishes the KPI as an independent body, the draft Bill allocates important powers in this area to the government, contrary to clear international standards on this issue. The content controls it establishes go beyond what is generally recognised as necessary to safeguard the public interest, and there are stringent and unnecessary restrictions on foreign broadcasters.
ARTICLE 19, FORUM-ASIA and AJI call on the Indonesian authorities to review the recommendations in the ARTICLE 19 analysis and revise the Broadcasting Bill accordingly before it is passed into law.
Copies of the analysis can be found on the ARTICLE 19 website, at: http://www.article19.org/docimages/1427.doc.
