Code of Ethics

Dokumen Resmi Terverifikasi

Update: 11 March 2026

Freedom of opinion, freedom of expression, and freedom of the press are human rights protected by Pancasila, the 1945 Constitution, and the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The existence of cyber media in Indonesia is also a part of freedom of opinion, freedom of expression, and freedom of the press.

Cyber media has a special character, requiring guidelines so that its management can be carried out professionally, fulfilling its functions, rights, and obligations in accordance with Law Number 40 of 1999 concerning the Press and the Journalistic Code of Ethics. For this reason, the Press Council, together with press organizations, cyber media managers, and the public, have formulated the following Cyber Media News Guidelines:

1. Scope

Cyber Media is any form of media that uses the internet and carries out journalistic activities, as well as fulfilling the requirements of the Press Law and Press Company Standards set by the Press Council.

User Generated Content is any content created and or published by cyber media users, including articles, images, comments, sounds, videos, and various forms of uploads attached to cyber media, such as blogs, forums, reader or viewer comments, and other forms.

2. Verification and Balance of News

  1. In principle, every news story must go through verification.
  2. News that may harm other parties requires verification in the same news item to meet the principles of accuracy and balance.
  3. The provisions in point (a) above are excluded, provided that:
    • The news genuinely contains urgent public interest;
    • The first news source is a source whose identity is clearly stated, credible, and competent;
    • The subject of the news to be confirmed is of unknown whereabouts and/or cannot be interviewed;
    • The media provides an explanation to the readers that the news still requires further verification, which is being attempted as soon as possible. The explanation is placed at the end of the same news item, in brackets and italics.
  4. After publishing the news in accordance with point (c), the media is obliged to continue verification efforts, and once verification is obtained, the verification results are included in the update news with a link to the unverified news.

3. User Generated Content

Cyber media must clearly and plainly display the terms and conditions regarding User Generated Content that do not contradict Law No. 40 of 1999 on the Press and the Journalistic Code of Ethics.

Cyber media requires every user to register for membership and log in first to be able to publish all forms of User Generated Content. Provisions regarding logging in will be regulated further.

4. Errata, Corrections, and Right of Reply

  1. Errata, corrections, and the right of reply refer to the Press Law, the Journalistic Code of Ethics, and the Right of Reply Guidelines established by the Press Council.
  2. Errata, corrections, and/or the right of reply must be linked to the news being corrected, rectified, or given the right of reply.
  3. In every erratum, correction, and right of reply, the time of publication of the erratum, correction, and/or right of reply must be stated.
  4. If a certain cyber media news is disseminated by another cyber media, then:
    • The responsibility of the news-making cyber media is limited to the news published in that cyber media or cyber media under its technical authority;
    • News corrections made by a cyber media must also be made by other cyber media that quote the news from the corrected cyber media;
    • Media that disseminates news from a cyber media and does not make corrections to the news as done by the cyber media that owns and/or created the news, is fully responsible for all legal consequences of the uncorrected news.

5. News Retraction

Published news cannot be retracted due to censorship reasons from outside the editorial team, except for issues related to SARA (ethnicity, religion, race, and inter-group relations), decency, the future of children, traumatic experiences of victims, or based on other special considerations established by the Press Council.

Other cyber media must follow the retraction of news quotes from the original media that has been retracted. The retraction of news must be accompanied by the reasons for the retraction and announced to the public.

6. Advertisements

Cyber media must strictly distinguish between news products and advertisements.

Every news/article/content that is an advertisement and/or paid content must include the description 'advertorial', 'advertisement', 'ads', 'sponsored', or other words that clearly explain that the news/article/content is an advertisement.

7. Copyright

Cyber media must respect copyright as regulated in the applicable laws and regulations.

8. Disputes

The final assessment of disputes regarding the implementation of these Cyber Media News Guidelines is resolved by the Press Council.

Jakarta, February 3, 2012
(Press Council)