President Jokowi: ITE Law Must Fulfill Public Sense of Justice

President Jokowi attends the 2021 Leadership Meeting of the Indonesian National Defense Forces (TNI) and the Indonesian National Police (Polri) at the State Palace, Jakarta, Monday (15/02). Photo by: Press Bureau of Presidential Secretariat/Lukas).

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has ordered Chief of the Indonesian National Police (Kapolri) to improve supervision to ensure that the implementation of the Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE) Law can be in compliance with the principle of accountability and provide the public sense of justice.

“Our country is a state based on the law. We must implement the law as fairly as possible to protect broader interests, and at the same time fulfill the public sense of justice,” the President said in his remarks during the 2021 Leadership Meeting of the Indonesian National Defense Forces (TNI) and the Indonesisn National Police (Polri) at the State Palace, Jakarta, Monday (15/02).

On that occasion, the President ordered the Chief of Police and all Police personnel to be more selective in responding to and accepting reports that use the ITE Law as a legal reference.

“Articles that may lead to multiple interpretations must be interpreted carefully. Do create guidelines for official interpretation of Articles of the ITE Law to ensure that everything is clear,” the President said.

President Jokowi further said that if the ITE Law is not consistent with the public sense of justice, he will invite the House of Representatives to jointly amend the Law and revoke catchall articles that can lead to multiple interpretations.

The President also reiterated that the Government is committed to safeguarding Indonesia’s digital space to be clean, healthy, ethical, and productive through the proper implementation of the Law. (BPMI/UN) (RI/MUR)