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Machine Translated by Google City/Regency) and West Papua Province (13 Cities/Regencies) 21 August 2019 until at least 04 September 2019 at 23.00 WIT; 3. Government action, namely extending service blocking data and/or disconnection of internet access in 4 cities/districts in Papua Province (i.e. Jayapura City, Jayapura Regency, Mimika, and Jayawijaya Regency) and 2 Cities/Regencies in the Province West Papua (i.e. City of Manokwari and City of Sorong) since 04 September 2019 23.00 WIT until 09 September 2019 18.00 WIB / 20.00 WIT.; henceforth in this lawsuit, the said Government Action called the Object of the Lawsuit. II. Plaintiffs' RIGHTS AND INTERESTS 1. Whereas Article 53 Paragraph (1) of the Administrative Court Law expressly states that "Persons or civil legal entities who feel their interests have been harmed" by a State Administrative Decree may file a lawsuit in writing to the competent court containing a demand that The disputed state administrative decision is declared null and void or invalid, with or without claims for damages and/ or rehabilitated.” jo Article 1 points 5 and 6 & Article 3 PERMA 2/2019; 2. Whereas based on Article 17 of Law Number 39 of 1999 on Human Rights states “Every person, without discrimination, have the right to obtain justice by filing applications, complaints, and lawsuits, both in criminal cases, civil, as well as administrative and tried through a judicial process that independent and impartial, in accordance with the law of events that guarantees objective examination by an honest and fair judge for obtain a fair and correct decision”; Page 9 of 280 pages of Decision No.230/ G/ TF/ 2019/ PTUN-JKT

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Alliance of Independent Journalists v. Minister of Communication

Case Law

Country

Indonesia

Country Location

Latitude: -0.789275

Longitude: 113.921327

Country Location (linked Case Law): Indonesia

Decision Date: Jun 3, 2020

Case Status: Closed

Case Outcome (Procedural)

Admissible

Case Outcome (Disposition)

Law or Action Overturned or Deemed Unconstitutional

Keywords

False News
Internet Shutdown

Judicial Body: First Instance Court

Court Name: Jakarta State Administrative Court

Case Number: 230/G/TF/2019/PTUN-JKT

Case Summary: On June 3, 2020, the Jakarta State Administrative Court held that the actions taken by the government of shutting down the internet network in West Papua and Papua province were unlawful and ordered the government to pay to the Plaintiffs the amount Rp. 457,000 (Four Hundred Fifty Seven Thousand rupiah) or $30.59 USD approx. The plaintiffs which included organizations advocating for press freedom, digital rights, the right to information and the welfare of the journalists sued the Minister of Communications and Informatics and the President of the Republic of Indonesia for throttling access to the internet in some areas of West Papua province and Papua province on August 19, 2019. The defendants invoked the spread of hoaxes, transmission of false news, racist speech and incitement as the reasons for throttling access to the internet. While recognizing the right to access internet as a fundamental right under the ambit of freedom of expression, the court observed that the restrictions on the freedom of expression must fulfill three conditions: first, restrictions must fulfill one of the following objectives: right to reputation, morality, religious values, security, decency, public order, or public health; second; restrictions must be prescribed by law; third, restrictions must be proportional. The court agreed that the internet was shut down under “security and public order considerations” however the governmental action was not prescribed by law and therefore did not satisfy the second criterion, as the government’s power did not extend to the termination of access to internet network at large but could be used only to terminate access to electronic information/documents that had unlawful content.

Case Significance: By holding that governmental action of shutting down the internet in the whole of West Papua and Papua province violated the right to access the internet, through which other human rights are realized, the Court expanded the freedom of expression. The court also remarked that “freedom of expression and information, including freedom of the press by using any means deemed appropriate to express opinions and information so as to reach as many people as possible, is a fundamental human right which is the basis of other rights and freedoms in a democratic society because it enables people to actualize all their rights and potential for self-development, convey and reveal the truth, and actively participate in the administration of government in order to realize transparent, accountable, responsive, effective and efficient governance (good governance)”. The court also opined that in the case of internet abuse through unlawful content distribution, an appropriate and proportional action would be if the restriction on the right to access the internet is only aimed at the perpetrators […] because if it is carried out in its entirety through the shut down of the internet network, it will have a greater negative impact in the form of derogating other human rights that find a positive realization through the internet.

The decision establishes a binding or persuasive precedent within its jurisdiction.

Source URL: Global Freedom of Expression

Collection

Columbia

Date Updated: Jul 10, 2024

Primary Documents

Judgement (English Translated)
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CYRILLA: Global Digital Rights Law

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Alliance of Independent Journalists v. Minister of Communication

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