Anita Rachman & Farouk Arnaz – The Ministry of Communication and Information Technology may find the recent sex video scandal to be a blessing in disguise, with lawmakers on Wednesday advising the ministry to restart work on a controversial bill to regulate multimedia content.
Kemal Azis Stamboel, chairman of the House of Representatives Commission I, which oversees defense and information, said it had ordered the ministry to resume work on the stalled draft and expected to receive updates after the month-long House recess beginning this weekend.
"We agree with the concept, however there should be a selection of what should be monitored, especially pornography, so that it will not spread as is happening today," said Kemal, a Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) legislator. "And [the ministry] should make sure that [the monitoring] does not pose threats to the freedom of press."
Commission members Roy Suryo, from the Democratic Pary, and Golkar's Tantowi Yahya also backed Kemal during a hearing with officials from the ministry to discuss the sex tape scandal, which many say have put the nation's morals at risk.
Previously, the government said it was committed to "totally revising" the proposed bill to monitor Internet content. The legislation's main objective is supposedly to reduce the dissemination of disturbing content on the Internet.
But media organizations, bloggers and Internet service providers said it would result in Web censorship have criticized it for emphasizing controlling illegal content while ignoring ways to develop positive material.
Kemal said the commission had not touched the subject following the initial public backlash to the plan. "There has been a cooling-down period, but with [the release of sex videos] happening it had sparked discussion again."
Communications and Information Technology Minister Tifatul Sembiring, from the Islam-based PKS party, said the ministry would follow up on the commission's recommendation.
The scandal, however, was not the only reason the ministry would take up the bill again, he said. The ministry had received much support from the public about the proposed measure, Tifatul said.
He said the bill would not be as strict as the 2008 Information and Electronic Transactions Law (ITE), with only local Web sites and specific content, such as pornography, to be monitored.
Meanwhile, National Police Chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri told a hearing with House's Commission III, which oversees legal affairs, on Wednesday that he would take firm action against whoever had starred in the sex videos.
"We don't want to be careless. This case not only has legal consequences but it also has a social and cultural impact. God willing our team will name the tape maker in the near future and we will make an arrest," he said.
Bambang said his team had encountered difficulties in determining whether the three individuals in the tapes had breached the Anti-Pornography Law, the ITE Law or the Criminal Code.
"But we have overcome the difficulties. We already have the legal basis to name those individuals as suspects and arrest them," he said. "Just wait."
National Police chief of detectives Comr. Gen. Ito Sumardi said police would summon the three celebrities who allegedly appear in the tapes – pop singer Nazril "Ariel" Irham, actress Luna Maya and TV presenter Cut Tari – again this week.
He said that the police took a scientific approach to determine who was in the videos. "We used several experts to the examine those videos. We used face recognition experts, forensic experts and IT expert to freeze the videos and analyze them," he said.