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Rajabot

Indonesia, Explained

Cyber Media Guidelines

Freedom of opinion, expression, and the press is a human right protected by the 1945 Constitution. Cyber media are part of that freedom, so they must be run with responsibility, professionalism, and compliance with Law No. 40 of 1999 on the Press and the Journalistic Code of Ethics.

Rajabot drew up these guidelines on the basis of the Cyber Media Reporting Guidelines issued by the Press Council (Dewan Pers) and applies them to the management of all content on this site.

1. Scope

  • Cyber media means any form of media that uses the internet and carries out journalistic activity in accordance with the Press Law and the standards set by the Press Council.
  • User-generated content means all content created and published by users of a cyber media outlet, including articles, images, comments, audio, video, and other uploads attached to the outlet.

2. News Verification and Balance

  • In principle, every news item goes through verification.
  • News that could harm another party requires verification so that it is fair and balanced.
  • Exceptions apply only when the news concerns an urgent public interest, the first source of the news has a clear identity and is credible and competent, the subject of the news cannot be located or interviewed, and the outlet tells readers that the news still needs further verification.
  • Once a news item under this exception has been published, the editors must continue verifying it and publish the result with a link to the unverified item.

3. User-Generated Content

If Rajabot opens space for user-generated content, such as a comment section, the following provisions apply:

  • Users must agree to terms and conditions that prohibit false, defamatory, sadistic, and obscene content; content that carries prejudice and hatred related to ethnicity, religion, race, and inter-group relations or that advocates violence; and content that discriminates on the basis of gender or language or that demeans the dignity of people who are weak, poor, sick, or mentally or physically disabled.
  • The editors have the authority to edit or delete user-generated content that conflicts with those provisions.
  • The editors provide a complaint mechanism for violating user-generated content and act on complaints no later than 2 x 24 hours (48 hours) after a complaint is received.

4. Retractions, Corrections, and Right of Reply

  • Retractions, corrections, and the right of reply follow the Press Law, the Journalistic Code of Ethics, and the Right of Reply Guidelines issued by the Press Council.
  • Retractions, corrections, and/or rights of reply are linked to the news item that was retracted, corrected, or given a right of reply, and carry a note of the time they were published.
  • If a news item is redistributed by another cyber media outlet, responsibility for the item stays with the outlet that produced it, while the outlet that redistributed it must also publish the retraction, correction, or right of reply.
  • A cyber media outlet that does not honor the right of reply may be sanctioned under the Press Law.

5. Removal of News

  • Published news cannot be removed for reasons of censorship from outside the newsroom, except in matters of ethnicity, religion, race, and inter-group relations, public decency, the future of children, the traumatic experiences of victims, or other special considerations determined by the Press Council.
  • Other cyber media outlets must follow the removal of quotations from the original outlet's news that has been removed.
  • Every removal of news is accompanied by a reason that is announced to the public.

6. Advertising

  • Cyber media must clearly distinguish between news products and advertisements.
  • Every news item, article, or other content that is an advertisement and/or paid content must be labeled "advertorial", "advertisement", "ads", "sponsored", or another word that makes clear the content is an advertisement.

Rajabot respects copyright as regulated by the applicable laws and regulations.

8. Publication of the Guidelines

These guidelines are published openly on the Rajabot site so that users can read them easily.

9. Disputes

The final assessment of any dispute over the implementation of these guidelines is settled by the Press Council.