Citizen Lab’s Cyber Stewards Network Partner Donny Budhi Utoyo, Executive Director of ICT Watch, spoke to the Jakarta Post in an interview about Indonesia’s Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE) law. In particular, he commented on the ‘right to be forgotten’ (RTBF) clause, included in the new law as Article 26.
Though there have been concerns with the vagenuess of the RTBF, Donny said that it was “a progressive move,” but one that should be “complemented by implementing regulation.” He suggested that the RTBF should not be used as a tool of digital censorship or digital concealment, say, in suppressing important information that should be accessible to the public like investigations of political corruption.
Other civil society organizations in Indonesia have outlined concerns with this possibility, as well as other aspects of the ITE law, such as cases relating to defamatory comments on social media. Cases prosecuted under the defamation provisions often involve comments against the politically powerful, rather than ordinary citizens. As a result, civil society organizations have suggested that this is an attempt to shield these individuals from legitimate scrutiny in matters of public interest.