INDONESIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Agus Ahadi Deradjat (Agung), Mahiswara Timur, Nina Cornelia Santoso and Natasya Nurul Amalia, ABNR Counsellors at Law
10.2 Regulatory and Compliance Issues The main regulatory body with the authority to oversee the use and operation of social media in Indonesia is the MOCD. Under the EIT Law and MR 5, the MOCD has the legal authority to determine unlawful content and issue TDRs to social media platforms for unlawful content. The request can be issued based on a report from the public, other ministries or institutions, law enforcement authorities or judicial institutions. Similar to the gaming industry, civil servant official investigators also have the authority to investigate criminal acts in the field of IT and electronic transactions, including in relation to social media. An example of social media enforcement in Indonesia is provided by the actions taken by the MOCD, which actively blocks websites and social media platforms that contain prohibited content in accordance with prevailing laws and regulations. In a notable recent case, the MOCD blocked several social media influenc - ers’ accounts that promoted online gambling in 2024. This enforcement highlights the govern - ment’s efforts towards tackling harmful content on social media, particularly by curbing online gambling through actions against individuals promoting illegal activities.
• the EIT Law, which regulates the utilisation of electronic information and transactions in the context of social media, including sanctions for criminal acts perpetrated via the internet (defamation, hate speech, etc); • GR 71, which establishes operational guide - lines applicable to ESOs such as social media platforms – this regulation strengthens gov - ernment oversight over digital social media by mandating specific obligations and includes prohibition of the distribution of unlawful elec - tronic information or documents; • MR 5, which imposes requirements regard - ing the takedown of unlawful content distrib - uted via the internet, including through social media – MR 5 requires platforms to monitor their content actively, and to promptly remove prohibited content flagged by the MOCD, and the regulation provides tight time frames for platforms to comply with TDRs (ie, 24 hours, or four hours for urgent unlawful content; otherwise, platforms will be subject to admin - istrative fines and access blocking); and • the PDP Law, which focuses on user privacy and data security and is thus critical for social media platforms that handle vast amounts of personal information. While these regulations provide a framework for the use of social media, key challenges such as content moderation and child protection have emerged as critical areas requiring greater atten - tion.
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