Free Speech in Indonesia : Legal Issues and Public Interest Litigation

This book discusses the practice of free speech and its limitations – defamation and hate speech – in the context of Indonesia.

Focusing on several legislations, mainly in the Indonesian Criminal Code (KUHP) and the Information and Electronic Transaction Law (The ITE Law), the analysis centres on defamation and hate speech and how public interest defense is implemented in such limitations. The book discusses free speech in Indonesia through historical context and legal framework, both national and international. Detailed analyses of laws and case studies are provided, and the author examines key judicial decisions in defamation and hate speech cases that occurred in offline and online realms. The book demonstrates that Indonesia has ratified international human rights frameworks but that democracy in Indonesia has been declining in recent years, particularly due to the restrictions on free speech imposed by laws, which has resulted in a significantly increase in cases involving free speech limitations.

Offering a much needed analysis of free speech and its implementation in Indonesia, this book will be of interest to academics studying Southeast Asia, Indonesia, Human Rights, Media Law and Law in Asia.