Foreign Digital Platforms to be ‘Organized’

SCREENSHOT VIDEO SEKRETARIAT PRESIDEN

President Joko Widodo was present at the Peak of the National Press Day Commemoration at the State Palace, Jakarta, Tuesday (9/02/2021).

In his speech during the commemoration of the 2022 National Press Day, President Jokowi promised to “organize” foreign digital platforms in a bid to create a healthy press industry.

KENDARI, KOMPAS - President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo believes that foreign platforms need to “organized” to develop fair profit-sharing rules between global and local platforms. On the other hand, the Indonesian press needs to improve its performance and strengthen the ecosystem so that it can provide quality news that educates the public.

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New Dynamics of the Press

The dominance of global digital platforms was recently discussed by the Press Council and the Indonesian Journalists Association (PWI). They called for the issuance of a regulations on publishers’ rights to protect publishers in Indonesia and limit the domination of the global platforms.

PWI chairman Atal Sembiring Depari noted the need for the government to quickly decide on a policy regarding publishers’ rights. "We really need it, and as we promised to the President, last year, thank God, we compiled it and handed it over in October of last year. It's not perfect yet, but now the ball is in the hands of the government," said Atal during the 2022 National Press Day commemoration in Kendari, Southeast Sulawesi, on Wednesday (9/2/2022).

KOMPAS/ALIF ICHWAN

Residents use digital platforms for various purposes, including buying mutual funds.

President Jokowi, in a speech delivered virtually from Bogor Palace, said the government continued to encourage publishers to create a healthy and strong press industry. “As an alternative, we may decide to make a new law, revise the existing one or to issue a government regulation. We leave it to PWI and the Press Council so that the regulation can be finalized as soon as possible. I encourage them to continue with it after the choice has been made," said the President.

When contacted, a member of the Press Council, Agus Sudibyo, said regulatory support would be needed in conducting negotiations between global platforms and content publishers or mass media. He said such a regulation was needed to determine remuneration for content utilized by global platforms.

According to Agus, the regulation should ideally be in the form of a law so that it has a strong legal basis, although in a number of countries, publishers’ rights are regulated under antitrust law and copyright law. However, making a law would take a relatively a long time, while the issuance of the regulation was urgently needed in order to create better press governance, he added.

KOMPAS/ERIKA KURNIA

Agus Sudibyo

"There is an intermediate solution being offered, namely, in the short term, it can be regulated by a government regulation. However, at the same time, efforts should continue to be made so that it will be later regulated by a law," he said.

Agus said media companies should also cooperate, such as by jointly establishing a national advertising platform. In addition, they should continue to prioritize quality content and not follow social media trends. “Perhaps now social media is more popular because it is more glamorous and interactive. However, the mass media is still more trusted, so it remains a reference," he said.

Information sovereignty

In his remarks, President Jokowi emphasized that information sovereignty should be achieved. He said a healthy national press industry, including the advertising

industry, must be created. A national video platform should also be prepared, he added, so that Indonesia would not completely dependent on foreign platforms.

He also suggested that Indonesia was just a market for global technology platforms.

The President also noted that the mass media faced greater challenges today. According to the President, the media should not just work to provide sensational news to attract readers and to create viral content at the cost of sacrificing veracity. He also suggested that Indonesia was just a market for global technology platforms.

"Therefore, the ecosystem of the press must continue to be regulated. Fair competition must be established. Foreign platform companies must be regulated so that the governance is better. We will strengthen the rule on profit sharing so that it will be fair and balanced for both global and local platforms," said the President.

The President also suggested that innovative technological platforms be developed to assist the public in obtaining quality, accurate and accountable information.

BPMI Sekretariat Presiden

Mohammad Nuh

According to the chairman of the Press Council, M. Nuh, the press is the “brother” of the executive, legislative and judicial branches of the Republic of Indonesia. "Therefore, we believe that the togetherness of the executive, legislature, judiciary and members of the press will be a power to build this nation and state," he said.

In addition, according to Atal Depari, the national press community needs to be introspective and improve itself. The trend of using clickbait among the press, especially on online platforms, needs to be controlled. In addition to maintaining the quality of reporting, the press must also avoid biased, provocative or bombastic reporting.

Apart from that, he said, the independence of the media and cooperation between large and small media outlets should be cultivated to develop publishers’ rights. Only with publishers’ rights would the media be protected, he added. (INA/REN/JAL/TAM)

(This article was translated by Hendarsyah Tarmizi)