Emmy Fitri – The ongoing debate over recent book bans aside, one thing is certain: The written word still has a powerful influence on society, sharpened and fueled by today's digital er

The Australia West Papua Association (Sydney) condemns the banning of books by the Indonesian Attorney General's Office (AGO).

Thousands of Indonesians have flocked to guerrilla screenings of Balibo since the Australian film was banned last month.

Hans David Tampubolon, Jakarta – Scholars and free speech activists have signed a statement saying the government has violated basic human rights following the decision of the Attorney

Andi Saputra, Jakarta – In response to the recent banning of five books and moves by Justice and Human Rights Minister Patrialis Akbar to examine 20 more for possible banning, 83 intell

Heru Andriyanto – A group of prominent activists on Friday demanded the Attorney General's Office put an end to the controversial policy of banning politically sensitive books.

Ismira Lutfia – Though Indonesia was a leader among fellow Asean member nation in press freedom in 2009 and violence against journalists here has declined in recent years, media activis

Dicky Christanto, Jakarta – The Attorney General's Office has insisted John Roosa's famous book on the September 30th Movement and Soeharto's coup d'etat has 143 crucial points that led

Jakarta – While calls mount for the government to stop banning books, the Attorney General's Office and the Justice and Human Rights Ministry are not seeing eye to eye over which instit

Justice and Human Rights Minister Patrialis Akbar on Monday said that a special team has been given two weeks to study a number of books that are deemed to potentially pose a threat to

Irawaty Wardany, Jakarta – After the controversial banning of five books last week, the government has added 20 more titles to its evaluation list, citing suspicion the books potentiall

Jakarta – The number of instances of violence against journalists dropped by 30 percent this year, a report from the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) revealed.

Jakarta – The National Commission on Human Rights has sent a letter to the Attorney General's Office (AGO) requesting clarification on the latter's decision to ban five books despite mo

Jakarta – The Constitutional Court should revoke the authority of the Attorney General's Office (AGO) to ban books within the country, as it limits intellectual freedom guaranteed by th

Anita Rachman & Ismira Lutfia – Press organizations on Sunday denounced calls for the government to regulate or ban racy entertainment news programs, saying such a move smacked of c

Rod McGuirk, Jakarta – A journalists' group threatened on Tuesday to fight a ban on the war movie "Balibo" with a constitutional court challenge if the Indonesian government enforces it

Nivell Rayda – The Indonesia Film Censorship Agency's decision to ban the Australian movie "Balibo" early this month appears to have backfired, with stores all over the capital selling

Agustina Wayansari, Melbourne – The director of Balibo, Robert Connolly, is excited with Indonesians' enthusiasm toward his movie despite its banning by the Film Censorship Board (LSF).

New York - The Indonesian government should rescind its censorship of a film depicting a military atrocity prior to Indonesia's 1975 invasion of East Timor, Human Rights Watch said toda

Markus Junianto Sihaloho & Anita Rachman – The Indonesian Armed Forces said on Friday that it expected everyone to respect the decision of the Film Censorship Institute (LSF) to ban

Stephen Fitzpatrick – Indonesia's national journalists association plans to defy a government ban on the movie Balibo, kicking off a countrywide "roadshow" tour for the film with a free

The Indonesian government has supported the decision of the country's censorship board to ban the film "Balibo" with the Minister of Culture and Tourism Jero Wacik stating that it is no

Jakarta – Prolonging the debate over the Film Censor Institute's (LSF) ban on Balibo – the Australian film about the killings of five Western journalists in then East Timor in 1975 – th

Lilian Budianto, Jakarta – The Indonesian government anticipates an international backlash over its recent ban on the screening of the movie Balibo, but expects this will not hurt Jakar

Indonesia's journalists on Thursday vowed to defy a ban on the screening of Australian movie "Balibo", saying the film depicting alleged war crimes by Indonesian forces in East Timor is

Indonesia's film censor says Balibo is a great film but he had to ban it because of its potential to spark trouble.

Markus Junianto Sihaloho & Putri Prameshwari – The banning of Australian film "Balibo" showed that there was no real democracy in Indonesia, film activists said on Wednesday, althou

Adam Gartrell, Jakarta – The Indonesian government has defended its censors' decision to ban Balibo, labelling the Australian film "negative propaganda".

The local premiere of the acclaimed Australian film, "Balibo," which recounts the murder of five journalists allegedly at the hands of Indonesian soldiers during the 1975 invasion of Ea

Bruce Emond, Jakarta – The Jakarta Foreign Correspondents Club (JFCC) decided to "err on the side of caution" in canceling a private screening Tuesday of Balibo, a movie about the death

Ramadhian Fadillah, Jakarta – The Indonesian military (TNI) is cited as the party that murdered five Australian journalists in the film "Balibo".

Irwan Nugroho, Jakarta – The Indonesian Film Society (MFI) believes that the banning of a film about the deaths of five Australian journalists in East Timor or the Balibo Five makes no

Hendrik Sorandanya, Jayapura – On November 3, a small group of left-wing activists met in Jayapura, capital of Indonesia's Papua province, to form the Papuan Democratic Peoples' Movemen

Palembang – A group of journalists from various organizations rallied in Palembang, South Sumatra, on Monday morning to voice their opposition to what they termed the criminalization of

Minister of Communication and Information Tifatul Sembiring denied that the summoning of a number of chief editors by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Sunday was a form of governme

Anita Rachman & Camelia Pasandaran – The National Police drew the ire of journalists and media experts on Friday by summoning two newspaper editors for questioning, after the force

Indonesia's censors have formed a special team to decide whether to allow the politically sensitive Australian movie about the Balibo Five to be shown in the country.

Nurfika Osman – The Indonesian Broadcasting Commission's letters to all television stations warning them to censor offensive material during court broadcasts has been criticized as unco

Ni Komang Erviani, Denpasar – An education official testified Tuesday that he had asked the family of slain journalist Anak Agung Bagus Narendra Prabangsa to pull a story over which the

Ismira Lutfia & Dessy Sagita – Local journalists had mixed reactions to a recent report from France-based Reporters Without Borders that indicates press freedom in Indonesia improve

Ismira Lutfia – Print media companies in the United States are falling by the wayside in the face of stiff competition from more technologically advanced media.

Harry Bhaskara, Jakarta – A set of global guidelines on freedom of expression in the media – a key element of democracy – were launched Thursday in Jakarta as part of a UN initiative by

Camelia Pasandaran – Commercial interests, self-censorship and fear of lawsuits are hindering the growth of high-quality news media in Indonesia, journalists and analysts say.

Camelia Pasandaran – Indonesian media have yet to take full advantage of freedom of the press, senior editorial staff members said.

Jakarta – The original drafters of the state secrecy bill say that both legislators and the executive branch have ruined the bill by turning it into a weapon to limit public access to i

Jakarta – Journalists reporting on sensitive issues face imprisonment or the death penalty if the government and the House of Representatives pass the current draft of the state secrecy

Erwida Maulia, Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is being further derided after he criticized the media for "twisting around" his statements in response to last Friday's bom

Camelia Pasandaran – Media analysts and open-government advocates warned on Thursday that the state secrecy bill now before the House of Representatives would prevent journalists from d

Heru Andriyanto – The South Jakarta District Court on Wednesday acquitted Tempo daily of libel over its reporting on the military wing leader of a fundamentalist group, the Islam Defend

Tom Allard, Jakarta – Human Rights Watch has urged Australia to cut ties with Indonesia's feared special forces group Kopassus after new evidence that it is terrorising civilians in Wes