KKJ: Komdigi's Restriction on Magdalene News Violates the Law
The Journalists’ Safety Committee (KKJ) has condemned the Ministry of Communication and Digital (Komdigi) for submitting a request to restrict access to news content from Magdalene on the social media platform Instagram.
KKJ Coordinator Erick Tanjung stated that the restricted news forms part of the publication of an investigative report by the Advocacy Team for Democracy (TAUD) regarding the acid attack case on Andrie Yunus, published on 30 March 2026.
“As a legally established media company carrying out its duties and functions in accordance with the Press Law, Magdalene has the right to seek, process, and disseminate information through all available channels,” Erick said via WhatsApp message on Tuesday, 7 April 2026.
Magdalene, he continued, has rights guaranteed by the constitution and the Press Law. Therefore, any objections or disputes related to journalistic products must be resolved through press mechanisms, including the right of reply, right of correction, or complaints to the Press Council.
Without going through these mechanisms, Erick explained, Komdigi or other parties are essentially ignoring the applicable press legal system, while also potentially violating the principle of due process of law in resolving reporting disputes.
“All forms of news restrictions constitute a violation of Article 4 paragraph (2) in conjunction with Article 18 paragraph (1) of the Press Law,” Erick stated.
Erick said that instead of providing information to the public to encourage transparency in the legal process of Andrie Yunus, Komdigi is demonstrating a serious act of suppressing press freedom.
“This is a serious threat to press freedom,” he said.
KKJ urges Komdigi to immediately halt the restriction actions against Magdalene’s news publications on social media, including providing open clarification in accordance with the mandate of Constitutional Court Decision Number 81/PUU-XVIII/2020.
Without such transparency, Erick said, this action has the potential to lead to practices of abuse of authority and excessive censorship in digital space regulation.
“We also urge Meta Indonesia to immediately lift the restrictions on Magdalene’s content and not to take similar actions that outright comply with restriction requests without considering the principles of press freedom and public interest,” he said.
Tempo has sent confirmation messages regarding the alleged restriction of Magdalene’s media report to Minister of Komdigi Meutya Hafid and her Deputy, Nezar Patria.
However, until this report was published, the confirmation messages sent via WhatsApp phone numbers only showed a double grey tick notification, meaning they were only sent.