Nurul Fitri Ramadhani, Jakarta – Factions of the House of Representatives agreed on Monday not to grant license revocation authority to the country's broadcasting body for sanctioning television stations.
House Commission I overseeing defense, foreign affairs and communications has ensured the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI) will stay in its current role only: regulating and making recommendations to the government about broadcasting content.
Previously, under Law No. 32/2002 on broadcasting the commission had the authority to revoke the broadcasting licenses of television stations that violated broadcasting content rules. However, in 2003, the Constitutional Court ruled to revoke that authority for the sake of press freedom.
The court then regulated that license revocation authority should rest with the government. Since then, the commission has only given recommendations to the Communications and Information Ministry regarding content violations by broadcasters.
"The court once annulled the authority. So, we can't grant the KPI such authority again because the annulment will be repeated," Commission I member Evita Nursanty of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) said.
However, Evita said that the amendment of the Broadcasting Law would grant the KPI the authority to impose fines on stations found to be violating the law. "There should be more than administrative sanctions for violators, to create a deterrent effect," Evita said.The House has been deliberating the law very closely and aims to pass the draft at a plenary session in the next sitting period. Then, the commission will deliberate over it with the government.
The deliberation might take a long time, Evita continued, as the contents of the draft were complex and stirred tense argument among factions.
"There might also be many different views within the government. These issues made us unable to complete the draft last year. It's a rigid and sensitive law for the public, so we must be careful in our consideration," she added.
Broadcasting watchdog Remotivi director Muhamad Heychael said that the broadcasting licenses should be in the hands of the KPI as a semi-independent institution.
"The frequency belongs to the public, thus the public should be involved in managing broadcasting content. The KPI, as the public's representative, should grant this authority," Heychael said.
Moreover, the draft is yet to mention clearly whether the KPI's recommendations are final and binding, because the ministry often ignores recommendations.
Remotivi also made recommendations regarding the role and selection of KPI commissioners. Heychael said that commissioners should only serve for a maximum of two years, shorter than their current three year tenures.
Commissioners, according to Remotivi, should also not engage with or have positions in the broadcasting industry for two years prior to and after their service with the KPI. "This is important because a tense relationship between a commissioner and a broadcasting institution has the potential for conflict of interest," he said.
He also said that the draft of the law had reportedly dropped a regulation about limitations on media ownership. Current regulations limit individual ownership of private broadcasting companies, although it is not discussed clearly.