February 21, 2024
JAKARTA – President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has signed a long-awaited regulation that will require tech giants, including Google and Meta, to pay local media outlets for news content presented on their platforms.
The rule brings Indonesia in line with Australia and Canada, which have enacted similar publishers’ rights policies.
The presidential regulation will come into force in August, six months after its announcement, and paves the way for media firms to negotiate partnerships with tech platforms that could take the form of paid licensing, revenue sharing and data sharing, among other arrangements.
Aside from payments to media firms, the regulation requires tech platforms to prioritize news content produced by verified media outlets, contribute to journalist training programs and curb the spread of fake news in the country.
“It was a tiring process, and it was so hard to find a middle ground. Even among major digital platforms, their aspirations are different,” the President said at the annual Press Day celebration on Tuesday.
The rule aims to address publishers’ longstanding complaints that they are losing revenue to online platforms, as tech giants benefit from using news content in search results and other features without compensation.
The government has also noted that Big Tech dominates the country’s advertising market, with a 60 percent market share, squeezing smaller players such as news outlets, especially those that do not rely on subscriptions.
The signing of the regulation had been delayed for months amid stalled negotiations between publishers and digital platforms. Jokowi previously said he hoped to have the regulation set within a month after he promised it on last year’s Press Day in February.
The regulation also establishes a committee responsible for monitoring the partnerships between tech platforms and news firms, consisting of representatives from the Press Council and the Communications and Information Ministry, as well as experts in the field.
The committee will also handle dispute resolution and arbitration between platforms and media outlets and will offer recommendations to the government on such matters.
Communications and Information Minister Budi Arie Setiadi said at the same event that the regulation would allow media firms to stand up to digital disruption.
The regulation was welcomed by the Press Council and the Indonesian Journalists Association (PWI).
Mitigation plans
When the government of Australia and Canada issued similar publishers’ rights regulations, digital platforms countered with some resistance.
Meta responded to the Australian News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code, which was passed in 2021, by restricting publishers and people in the country from sharing or viewing news content, before striking a deal a week later. It also stopped offering news on its platforms in Canada after the government passed the Online News Act last year.
Jokowi acknowledged that major platforms could have similar responses to Indonesia’s regulation. He said the government had prepared for such eventualities and suggested that news firms do so as well.
“The government will also continue to look for solutions and make affirmative policies for local media companies. I have ordered the communications and information minister to prioritize the government’s advertising budget for media firms [rather than digital platforms]. This could be a short-term buffer,” Jokowi said.
The President noted that the regulation would not affect social media content creators and that they could continue their existing partnerships with digital platforms.
Nailul Huda, digital economy director at the Center of Economic and Law Studies (CELIOS), expected that digital platforms would comply with the regulation only if the government could ensure fair treatment.
“If the government only shifts advertising budgets from digital platforms to media firms, I doubt it could be effective in making those platforms comply, as many private companies will continue to spend their money there,” he told The Jakarta Post on Friday.
In response to the signing of the regulation, Google said that it had worked collaboratively with news publishers and the government to support and build a sustainable future for the news ecosystem in Indonesia.
The firm said it was crucial for its products to offer a diverse set of news and perspectives without prejudice or bias.
“Throughout this process, we have highlighted the need to ensure Indonesians have access to diverse sources of news and support a balanced news ecosystem in Indonesia, one that delivers quality news for everyone and allows news publishers, large and small, to thrive,” the company said in a statement to the Post.
Meta was not immediately available for comment.