Kode Etik

Dokumen Resmi Terverifikasi

Update: 08 July 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 online media in Indonesia is also part of freedom of opinion, freedom of expression, and freedom of the press.

Online media has special characteristics, so it needs guidelines to ensure that its management is carried out professionally, fulfilling its functions, rights, and obligations according to Law Number 40 of 1999 on the Press and the Journalistic Code of Ethics. For this reason, the Press Council together with press organizations, online media managers, and the public have compiled the Online Media Reporting Guidelines as follows:

1. Scope

Cyber Media refers to any form of media that uses the internet as a platform and carries out journalistic activities, and meets the requirements of the Press Law and the Press Company Standards set by the Press Council.

User Generated Content (UGC) is any content created and/or published by cyber media users, including articles, images, comments, audio, videos, and various types of uploads associated with cyber media, such as blogs, forums, reader or viewer comments, and other forms.

2. News Verification and Balance

  1. Basically, every piece of news must go through verification.
  2. News that could harm others requires verification of the same news to meet the principles of accuracy and balance.
  3. The provisions in point (a) above are exempted, provided that:
    • The news truly involves a public interest that is urgent;
    • The first source of the news is clearly identified, credible, and competent;
    • The subject of the news that needs confirmation is unknown or cannot be interviewed;
    • The media provides an explanation to readers that the news still requires further verification, which is being carried out as quickly as possible. The explanation is included at the end of the same news article, in parentheses and italicized.
  4. After publishing the news according to point (c), the media must continue the verification efforts, and once the verification is obtained, the results are included in an updated news article with a link to the unverified news.

3. User Generated Content

Cyber media must include terms and conditions regarding User-Generated Content that do not conflict with Law No. 40 of 1999 on the Press and the Journalistic Code of Ethics, clearly and openly displayed.

Cyber media requires every user to register for membership and log in first in order to publish any form of User-Generated Content. Provisions regarding log-in will be further regulated.

4. Corrections, Clarifications, and Right to Reply

  1. Corrections, clarifications, and the right to reply refer to the Press Law, the Journalistic Code of Ethics, and the Right to Reply Guidelines established by the Press Council.
  2. Corrections, clarifications, and/or the right to reply must be linked to the news that is corrected, clarified, or given the right to reply.
  3. In every news correction, amendment, and right to reply, the time of posting the correction, amendment, and/or right to reply must be documented.
  4. If a certain cyber media's news is disseminated by another cyber media, then:
    • The responsibility of the cyber media that created the news is limited to the news published on that cyber media or cyber media under its technical authority;
    • Corrections to news made by one cyber media must also be made by other cyber media that quote the news from the corrected cyber media;
    • Media that distributes news from a cyber media and does not make corrections according to those made by the owner and/or creator of the news, are fully responsible for all legal consequences of the news they did not correct.

5. Retraction of News

News that has already been published cannot be retracted due to censorship from outside the editorial team, except in cases related to SARA (ethnicity, religion, race, and societal groups), decency, children's future, victims' traumatic experiences, or other special considerations set by the Press Council.

Other online media are required to follow the retraction of news quotes from the original media that has been retracted. News retractions must include the reason for the retraction and be announced to the public.

6. Advertisements

Online media must clearly distinguish between news content and advertisements.

Every news/article/content that is an advertisement and/or paid content must include a note such as 'advertorial,' 'advertisement,' 'ads,' 'sponsored,' or other words that indicate that the news/article/content is an advertisement.

7. Copyright

Online media must respect copyright as regulated by the applicable laws and regulations.

8. Disputes

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

Jakarta, February 3, 2012
(Press Council)