The Indonesian Government has ratified the Publisher Rights’ Presidential Regulation (Presidential Regulation No.32/2024). During the 2024 National Press Day, President Jokowi announced the ratification of Publisher Rights regulation that will regulate digital publisher companies’ responsibilities to support the quality of journalism. Fundamentally, this regulation is similar with Australia’s NMBC, but Nezar Patria, Vice Ministry of Communications and Informatics, argues that this regulation is emphasizing on improving the quality of Indonesia’s journalisms. Furthermore, Head of the Press Ethics Complaints and Enforcement Commission of Indonesian Press Council, Yadi Hendriana argues that this Publisher Rights regulation will increase the bargaining power of news companies which has been a long standing issue.
However, regardless of the progress, experts find several substances of the Publisher Rights need to be improved. The ratification of Publisher Rights is indeed a significant progress by the government as this is the first additional regulation of Press Law (Law No.40/1999) initiated by the government. Nevertheless, experts find some of the regulation’s substances need enhancement to maximize the expected outcome: improving Indonesia’s journalism quality.
First, Wisnu Prasetyo Utomo finds that there is no clear clause that regulates profit-sharing obligation amongst publisher companies and news companies. The absence of this clause can lead to avoidance of platform companies to share the profit. Second, Ignatius Haryanto also finds that this regulation potentially creates a disparity amongst big and small news companies as verification from the News Council is the main condition for registration of this regulation48. As a note, out of a total of 47,000 news companies, only around 1,700 have been verified by the Press Council. Third, the use of “quality journalism” as the regulation’s title, indicates the strong commitment to enhance Indonesia’s journalism. However, Masduki finds the regulation has no clear clause on indicators of quality journalism. Consequently, the measurement of this regulation’s outcomes is unclear.
Nevertheless, during the announcement of this regulation, President Jokowi also raised a concern about responses from digital platform companies. This is indeed an important thing to address as resistances often come from digital platform companies. For instance, after Canada has passed the Online News Act, Meta and Google show resistance toward this regulation—Meta even restricted Canadians from accessing news on Facebook and Instagram. Australia also faces obstacles, such as that one platform secures more deals than other companies, during the implementation of NMBC.
The Indonesian Government has shown its commitment in improving the business ecosystem of media and enhancing journalism quality. As many countries are starting to put efforts on improving the business ecosystem of media and preventing it from failure, Indonesia also shows its commitment toward it by ratifying Quality Journalism Presidential Regulation (Presidential Regulation No.32/2024). However, several experts find substances of the regulation that need improvements to optimize the regulation’s expected outcomes. Hence, strategic items can be done to improve the quality of journalism as it is one of the important pillars of democracy.
Recalling the purpose of Quality Journalism Presidential Regulation. Nezar Patria, Vice Ministry of Communications and Informatics, during an interview with CNN Indonesia, stated that this regulation works as a regulatory framework to provide a legal basis for news companies to have fair outputs from platform companies while enhancing the quality of journalism. Prior similar views also come from Agus Sudibyo, arguing that similar regulation in the US emphasizes the importance to stop the growth of disparity between news and platform companies, and not neglect the facts of platforms’ contribution to democratizing communication and information.
However, enhancing journalism quality requires improvement in companies’ financial conditions. Australia has shown the successful outcomes of NMBC as news companies receive a considerable amount of remuneration which they can use to improve the journalism quality. Furthermore, study also finds that this significant financial boost ensures longevity of news organizations and promotes production of top-tier journalism.
Hence, as the assessment from Wisnu Prasetya Utomo indicates that this regulation has not provided an explicit clause of profit sharing, the government should consider revising the regulation to accommodate a clearer framework for profit-sharing mechanism.
To effectively implement Indonesia’s publisher rights, further regulation is required. Nezar Patria acknowledges that Indonesia’s Publisher Rights differ from those in Australia and Canada, as Indonesia is simpler. For instance, Indonesia’s publisher rights document is 10 pages long, while Australia’s is 57 pages. Consequently, the government is required to formulate further regulations to accommodate aspects that are yet to be covered within the Quality Journalism Presidential Regulation.
Moreover, to ensure effective implementation, the government and Press Council are required to establish a committee. This committee will include members from the government, the Press Council, and relevant experts, as mandated by the regulation. Ignatius Haryanto and Wisnu Prasetya Utomo agree that this committee must ensure profit-sharing between platform companies and news companies’ benefits, not only for large news companies but also the smaller ones.
Finally, since this regulation is ‘only’ a Presidential Regulation, which in legal hierarchy is below the Law (Undang-Undang), Masduki argues that if, during implementation, this regulation proves to be ineffective, the government should revise or elevate it into the status of a Law.
