Broadcasting bill 'limits' right to information

Broadcasting bill 'limits' right to information

Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The nation will soon have a new repressive broadcasting law after
the government and the House of Representatives reached an
agreement last week to pass the broadcasting bill into law on
Monday.

At the same time, those opposing the bill have decided to stop
their fight in the House as both the House and the government had
agreed on the passage of the bill.

The opposition groups have, nevertheless, vowed to continue
their fight by bringing the case to the Supreme Court with a view
to asking the court to conduct a judicial review of the
controversial bill.

Media observer Wiwiek Awiyati of the Coalition for Freedom of
Information said on Saturday that those in the broadcasting
sector as well as the media should not stop fighting because the
bill gave a carte blanche to the government to suppress public
access to information.

The bill also gave the authorities a new power to interfere in
broadcasting activities, which would eventually lead to some kind
of censorship.

Zainal Suryokusumo of the Indonesian Press and Broadcasting
Society (MPPI) agreed and said that the broadcasting bill was
designed erroneously.

"That bill has the potential to violate public rights," Zainal
told The Jakarta Post here on Saturday.

Zainal, who is the director of the Radio Network for Electoral
Monitoring, added that the broadcasting bill was not in line with
the essence of the people's rights as set out in Article 28 (f)
of the 1945 Constitution.

This article says that everyone has the right to communicate,
obtain information, develop their personalities and social
environment, and to seek, obtain, possess, store, analyze, and
disseminate information by using all available means.

"This means that radio frequencies, which come within the
public domain, should be used for the benefit of the people. The
government must not interfere in this matter," Zainal added.

Worse still, the bill would arbitrarily impose new
restrictions on the country's television stations.

Under the bill, television stations would not be allowed to
broadcast nationwide. If a television station still wished to
have nationwide coverage, it would have to collaborate with local
partners to form a national network.

If a television broadcaster was unwilling to establish such a
networks, then it would have to close down its relay stations.
This would ultimately curb the people's access to information.

The new bill is more or less similar to the draconian Law No.
24/1997 on broadcasting.

The 1997 broadcasting law, which fell into abeyance following
the dissolution of the Ministry of Information by then president
Abdurrahman Wahid, gives power to the government to intervene in
the broadcasting industry through 23 government regulations.

In the meantime, the new broadcasting bill gives similar
powers to the government to issue about 15 government regulations
to put flesh on the bones of the law.

In addition, the bill also mandates the establishment of a
very powerful body, the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission, which
will have sweeping powers over the broadcasting industry.

Based on Article 8 (2), the commission has the authority to
issue broadcasting regulations and guidelines.

Leo Batubara, MPPI chairman, earlier described several
articles in the bill as "monstrous", and said he planned to seek
a Supreme Court judicial review.

One of the "monstrous articles" was Article 32 (4) which
provides that a broadcasting license and its extension are to be
issued by the state after receiving the green light from the
commission.

This licensing requirement would likely force broadcasters,
especially TV stations, to keep in with the powerholders toward
the end of their license periods so as to ensure that their
licenses would be renewed.