Constitutional Court Rejects Delpedro's Lawsuit on Incitement Article in Criminal Code
The Constitutional Court (MK) has rejected the petition against Law No. 1 of 2023 regarding the articles on incitement and the dissemination of hoaxes, filed by Lokataru Executive Director Delpedro Marhaen and Lokataru staff member Muzaffar Salim. The MK stated that the petition was unclear.
“The operative part of the decision rules to adjudicate, stating that the petitioners’ application is not accepted,” said MK Chief Justice Suhartoyo during the decision hearing in the Plenary Courtroom of MK Building I, Central Jakarta, on Thursday (16/4/2026).
MK Justice Liliek Prisbawono explained the court’s considerations in this decision. He noted that in the section on legal standing, the petitioners only clearly outlined the constitutional rights they believed were harmed by Article 246 of Law No. 1 of 2023.
However, Liliek said, the petitioners did not elaborate on the alleged harm to constitutional rights in relation to the application of the provisions of Article 263 Paragraphs 1 and 2, as well as Article 264 of Law No. 1 of 2023.
“Yet, the explanation of constitutional harm and the causal verbal relationship between the application of the challenged statutory norm is an essential right in outlining the matter of harm or constitutional rights harm,” Liliek explained.
Liliek also stated that the formulation of the petitioners’ petitum point 2 is an unusual formulation in applications for judicial review of statutes against the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia. This led the MK to assess the petition as unclear.
“Typically, if one seeks to annul an entire statutory norm, the petitum is formulated by stating that the said statutory norm contradicts the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia and has no binding legal force,” Liliek said.
He noted that the model of the petitioners’ petitum point 2 was deemed difficult to understand. In this regard, he said, the petitioners were unclear in requesting the deletion or amendment of the content of Article 246 of the Criminal Code.
“Based on all the legal considerations outlined above, although the Court has jurisdiction to adjudicate the petitioners’ application case, the petitioners do not have legal standing to file the aforementioned application,” he stated.
As is known, Delpedro and Muzaffar filed a lawsuit against several articles in Law 1/2023 on the Criminal Code. The challenged articles include those on incitement and the dissemination of hoaxes.
According to the MK’s official website on Friday (6/3/2026), the petition was registered under number 93/PUU-XXIV/2026. They challenged Article 246, Article 264 Paragraph (1) and Paragraph (2), as well as Article 264.
Here are the contents of the challenged articles:
Article 246
Any person who, in public by word of mouth or writing:
incites people to commit a criminal offence; or
incites people to resist public authority with violence
shall be punished with imprisonment for a maximum of 4 years or a fine of at most category V (Rp 500 million).
Article 263
Any person who disseminates or spreads news or information, knowing that such news or information is false, which causes unrest in society, shall be punished with imprisonment for a maximum of 6 (six) years or a fine of at most category V (Rp 500 million).
Any person who disseminates or spreads news or information, where it is reasonable to suspect that such news or information is false and may cause unrest in society, shall be punished with imprisonment for a maximum of 4 (four) years or a fine of at most category IV (Rp 200 million).
Article 264
Any person who disseminates news that is uncertain, exaggerated, or incomplete, where it is known or reasonably suspected that such news may cause unrest in society, shall be punished with imprisonment for a maximum of 2 (two) years or a fine of at most category III (Rp 50 million).
Delpedro and Muzaffar asked the MK to declare these articles contrary to the 1945 Constitution and to have no binding legal force, effectively removing them from the Criminal Code.
The petitioners stated that they became defendants for allegedly violating Article 246 of the Criminal Code related to suspected incitement and Article 45 Paragraph 3 of the ITE Law related to suspected dissemination of false news. According to the petitioners, the content in both articles charged against them is also found in the challenged articles.
“The content of those articles is similar to Articles 263 and 264 of the Criminal Code currently under review by the petitioners,” said the petitioners.
The petitioners assessed that the existence of the challenged articles has the potential to cause constitutional harm to them in the future. The petitioners described this harm as hindering their right to recognition, guarantee, protection, and fair legal certainty.
“The petitioners also lose the opportunity to exercise freedom of expression as guaranteed by the 1945 Constitution and the principles of the rule of law,” said the petitioners.
Recently, Delpedro and Muzaffar underwent a verdict hearing in the incitement case stemming from a chaotic demonstration. They were acquitted.