Indonesia mulls ban on investigative journalism, LGBTQ content
Indonesia’s parliament is proposing changes to its broadcast law that would ban investigative journalism and LGBTQ content.
JAKARTA — Indonesia’s parliament is proposing changes to its broadcast law that would ban investigative journalism and LGBTQ content, sparking criticism from civil society groups and filmmakers over restrictions to press freedom and creative expression.
Changes to the 2002 broadcast law were first discussed in 2020 but the details in the latest revisions have spurred concern, with Indonesia’s Press Council saying it would undermine media independence.
“The impact on press freedom is very serious,” said Arif Zulkifli, head of the council’s law and legislation division. “Indonesia’s press law says there must not be any censorship or banning of journalism. So this is contradictory.”
The government is yet to receive the draft bill, communications minister Budi Arie Setiadi told Reuters, adding the revisions must not muzzle media freedom.
The planned curbs on journalism in the world’s third-largest democracy would harm freedom of expression and hard-won liberties since Indonesia emerged from decades of authoritarian rule in 1998, journalism and civil society organizations say.
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