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Constitutional Court Decides Articles Attacking Honor In ITE Law Do Not Apply To Government And Corporations

The Constitutional Court (MK) has ruled that the article attacking honor in Law Number 1 of 2024 concerning Electronic Information and Transactions (UU ITE) does not apply to government institutions, community groups, and corporations. In the ruling hearing for case number 105/PUUXXII/2024, Chief Justice Suhartoyo stated that the phrase "other people" in Article 27A and Article 45 paragraph (4) of Law Number 1 of 2024 only applies to individuals and private persons. "Declaring that the phrase 'other people' in Article 27A and Article 45 paragraph (4) of Law Number 1 of 2024 concerning the Second Amendment to Law Number 11 of 2008 concerning Electronic Information and Transactions (State Gazette of the Republic of Indonesia of 2024 Number 1, Supplement to the State Gazette of the Republic of Indonesia Number 6905) is contrary to the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia," said Suhartoyo, Tuesday (29/4/2025). "And does not have conditional binding legal force as long as it is not interpreted as 'except for government institutions, groups of people with specific or certain identities, institutions, corporations, professions, or positions,'" he added. He continued, the phrase "distributing and/or transmitting electronic information and/or electronic documents that are inciting, inviting, or influencing others so as to cause hatred or hostility towards certain individuals and/or community groups" in the two articles is contrary to the 1945 Constitution and does not have conditional binding legal force. 

"As long as it is not interpreted as 'only Electronic Information and/or Electronic Documents that substantively contain acts/dissemination of hatred based on certain identities that are carried out intentionally and in public, which poses a real risk of discrimination, hostility, or violence,'" said Suhartoyo. 

In one of his legal opinions, Constitutional Court Judge Arief Hidayat said that in Article 27A the phrase "other people" is meant as an individual or person. Therefore, it is exempted from the provisions of Article 27A of the ITE Law if the victim of defamation is not an individual or person, but a government institution, a group of people with a specific or certain identity, an institution, a corporation, a profession, or a position. "However, this exception does not rule out the possibility of the excluded party filing a lawsuit using civil legal means," said Suhartoyo. The lawsuit was filed by Daniel Frits Maurits Tangkilisan, a private employee from Jepara Regency, Central Java. There are four legal clauses that Daniel is challenging in the ITE Law, namely Article 27A, Article 45 paragraph (4), Article 45 paragraph (2), and Article 28 paragraph 2. 

Tag: Constitutional Court Electronic Information And Transactions MK UU ITE