Photo credit: Craig Cloutier.
Europe’s “right to be forgotten” has been called “a threat to journalism, freedom of speech, and the Internet itself.”
The troubling news is that Indonesia has adopted the right to be forgotten in a recent revision to the electronic information and transactions law (UU ITE). It’s the first of its kind in Asia.
Europe sets precedent
“The right to be forgotten” gives individuals an avenue to make platforms like Google remove links from search results if they lead to articles containing personal information they find embarrassing.
Ever since a European court ruled in favor of an individual who presented such a case in 2014, Google has received hundreds of thousands of similar requests.
In a recent revision of internet laws, Indonesia recognizes the right to be forgotten..
The ruling can protect an individual’s right to privacy – for example if an ex posted naked images of you online as an act of revenge.
But critics say the European ruling set a precedent, leading to people misusing it to shape their public image online.
In Indonesia, there’s no case yet in which an individual has fought for the removal of search engine results to protect public reputation – but the mere existence of the clause in the revised internet laws might inspire some to do so.
In Germany, for example, links to an article about an individual’s involvement with radical right-wing groups were removed from Google search results.
It’s Google who has the final say in which removal request it accepts or denies. The firm set up an online form and assigned legal teams to handle the requests.
Indonesia says yes
While the execution of the clause in Indonesia is still up in the air, some people fear it could lead to misuse.
Is this going to be another clause which will be mainly used by powerful people?
“In my opinion, the clause itself is ok, nothing to worry about yet,” says Donny Bu from digital rights group ICT Watch. He said it’s more important how it will be implemented.
“If we don’t trust the legal system 100 percent, it’s difficult. If a court rules that someone’s good name has to be restored, online and offline, that’s the decision we have to follow through with.”
Damar Juniarto from Digital Democracy Forum questions the necessity of the clause.
“Who is it for? Does the public need it? Or is this going to be another clause which will be mainly used by powerful people rather than by the wider society? Regular people cannot access the legal system.”
His concerns aren’t hypothetical. A different part of the law, about online defamation and blasphemy, has often been turned against civilians and selectively applied to silence activists and politicians.
In a recent case a woman was detained for alleged online defamation. She had vented anger at a member of parliament in a Facebook status – without even mentioning the individual’s name. More prominently, Jakarta’s governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama is currently under police investigation – an edited video of him supposedly saying offensive things about the Quran went viral.
Now activists fear powerful people could use the right to be forgotten to have unfavorable aspects of their past expunged from the internet’s memory – thus limiting people’s right to information.
Google Indonesia isn’t commenting on the issue. It could soon find itself in the awkward situation of having to help decide if a local public figure’s past deserves to be erased.
This post https://www.techinasia.com/indonesia-recognizes-right-to-be-forgotten appeared first on Tech in Asia.
from Tech in Asia https://www.techinasia.com/indonesia-recognizes-right-to-be-forgotten
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