Press freedom in Indonesia has come a long way since the nation broke free from authoritarian rule in 1998, but how free is our press compared to those in other countries?
Well, according to the newest edition of the World Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), we’re still a disappointing 130th out of 180. But, on the positive side, that’s 8 places up from last year.
So why are we ranked so low? Well, this is RSF’s analysis on the current state of press freedoms in Indonesia:
Sometimes dubbed the Indonesian Obama, President Joko Widodo has disappointed. His presidency continues to be marked by serious media freedom violations, including lack of access to West Papua, an information black hole. Journalists and fixers trying to work there are liable to be arrested. The problem is compounded by Indonesia’s visa law, which discriminates against foreign journalists. At the same time, many poorly paid journalists accept bribes in return for positive coverage.
We’d also like to add that Indonesian authorities have recently pledged to police ambiguously defined “hate speech” that could, worryingly, include legitimate criticisms against the powers that be. On a similar note, we also still have ambiguous IT laws that allows the government to censor content online that they deem questionable – like LGBT stickers.
Indonesian authorities have also in the past year prevented discussions delving into the country’s dark past, particularly the 1965 anti-communist purge.
So yes, it looks like we still have a long way in terms of press freedoms in Indonesia. We as a nation must aim to be more like Finland (number 1 in this year’s RSF ranking, obviously) and refuse to be like North Korea (179), Eritrea (180) or Singapore (150).
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