Human Rights Law Amendment to Introduce 'Right to be Forgotten'
JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com – The Ministry of Human Rights (Kemenham) has included provisions on the ‘right to be forgotten’ in the revision of the Human Rights Law.
Ministry of Human Rights Advisor Wahyudi stated that with this right, individuals can request the removal of personal data that has become public information through a court order.
“Under the right to be forgotten, the personal data requested for removal is data that has already become public information,” Wahyudi said during a public consultation talkshow on the Human Rights Law amendment draft at the Kemenham office in Jakarta on Monday (25 May 2026).
“The focus is indeed on digital platforms with search engine business models,” he added.
Wahyudi cited a German case where a court ruling allowed someone to remove their personal data, enabling them to request search engines like Google to delete it. However, they cannot remove their digital footprint from media reports.
According to the draft Human Rights Law obtained by Kompas.com, the right to be forgotten is regulated under Article 31(1) and (2), which states:
Every individual has the right to the removal or restriction of access to information about their personal data that is no longer relevant, through a court order.
The implementation of data removal or access restriction as outlined in paragraph (1) must consider public interest and freedom of expression, in accordance with applicable laws.
The government stated that the amendment to Law No. 39 of 1999 on Human Rights (Human Rights Law) will bring significant changes, including the definition of discrimination.
The government assured that the revised Human Rights Law will recognise and protect human rights defenders from criminalisation.
“Within this law, we acknowledge the existence of human rights defenders. Therefore, with this recognition, there will be no ambiguity,” said Ministry of Human Rights Secretary-General Novita Ilmaris during a Human Rights Journalism Workshop in Bandung on Friday (22 May 2026).