Say goodbye to February as we’re about to march into… March. Watch what you say online if you don’t want to get a message or mention from the police because Indonesians really do behave that badly on the internet. Especially adults.
Ninu Ninu
The Indonesian Cyber Police have been authorised to send warning messages to social media users suspected of violating ITE Law article 27 regarding libel, hate speech, and distribution of false or misleading information, to request takedowns and only prosecute suspects if they refuse to comply. In the 12 years since the law was passed, it’s been used to silence critics and outspoken individuals, so when the President demanded that the law be revised to be more specific or rescinded, the police moved to adjust their approach to be much softer and stepped back from immediately moving to prosecute which had been their typical action.
Many see this as an even deeper overreach by the authorities and a deterrent to freedom of expression and opinion but the proponents are saying that this is the equivalent of a reminder to behave nicely online. By the way, even if you block the country’s Cyber Police Force accounts on social media, it doesn’t mean that they can’t contact you. They have … other ways.
Microsoft Report Immediately Confirmed by Indonesians
Microsoft’s Digital Civility Report found that Indonesians are the worst behaving netizens in Southeast Asia. Not only do Indonesians rank last in the region, we’re doing worse than in last year’s report when it comes to being civil and orderly on the internet. Interestingly this is thanks to adults behaving badly because the teens recorded no change in behavior. Society used to make you think that youngsters are the troublemakers, but these days, it looks like it’s the adults that need education on manners and online ethics. The power of anonymity really does reveal your true personality.
The report was immediately proven correct within hours of release as Indonesians flooded the comments on Microsoft’s main Instagram account mocking the report and and generally being chatty, forcing the company to close their comments section. At least some of them recognized that they’re actually making the point of the report.
The Communications and Informatics Ministry also quickly moved to create what’s called Net Ethics Committee to drive advocacy for better online behaviors among Indonesians. It’s really that bad, folks.
The Struggle to Vaccinate
47 days since Covid-19 vaccinations began in Indonesia and the total number of people receiving their first dose only reached 1,691,724. This gives an average of just under 36,000 people per day or around 1/10 of the daily average required to vaccinate 70% of the population in 18 months. They’ll need to step up in a big way if they want to reach the target by mid 2022, hence the private sector vaccination scheme, which is a tacit acknowledgement that the government has failed.
Speaking of the private lane, all covid-19 vaccinations are meant to be free of charge regardless or program. Companies participating in the private scheme are reminded by the Health Minister that they are not allowed to charge a fee to vaccine recipients whether they are employees or their families and vaccines are not to be sold to anybody.
Sinopharm’s vaccine is the first to be authorised for independent vaccination program with 2 million doses set to arrive in March, potentially increased to 3 million. Indonesia has asked Sinopharm to deliver up to 30 million doses in total this year. Johnson & Johnson, recently authorised for emergency use in the United States, and Novavax are set to be the other brands made available for the private lane vaccination program.
As for the regular program, it seems you have to either be a parliamentarian, related to one or be a corruption suspect/convict to jump the queue.
Omnibus Law-Related Regulations Enacted
President Jokowi signed 49 government regulations and presidential decrees which provide more details into the Omnibus Job Creation Law this month. The regulations and decrees, which cover everything from labor, special economic zone, environmental protection, SMEs and investment, were signed on Feb 2, but only became accessible to the public on Feb 21. Hmmm….
We have glanced at the ones on labor. Under the regulation, companies can hire contract workers for a maximum of 5 years after which the workers must be made permanent employees. Previously it was three.
Elsewhere in the regulation, a company which is suffering a loss and had to conduct layoffs or close for good, is allowed to pay dismissed employees half the severance pay they should’ve got. More hmmm…..
Until Next Week
Interesting week this has been, eh? Catch y’all in the next edition, hopefully with better news. Give us a follow on Twitter or subscribe to this Nuiceletter if you haven’t, share it to your friends if you love what we do, and send us feedback if you have any. Have a safe week, mask up and maintain a distance if you have to meet people.
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