Indonesia to require Google and Meta to prioritize verified news outlets

• The Communications and Information Ministry submitted a draft presidential regulation on media sustainability to the State Secretariat on Monday for President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s consideration and signing.
• The ministry said the planned regulation would require digital platforms, including Google and Meta, to prioritize news from media outlets verified by the Press Council and to take down news that was not in accordance with the Press Law or journalistic ethics from their search engines and other features.
• The body cited President Jokowi’s statement on the National Press Day in February that the news industry was “not doing so well” as 60 percent of the country’s advertising market was dominated by big tech companies. The Press Council said this showed the urgent need for a regulation that supported media sustainability.
• A number of provisions in the July 13 draft were watered down from the previous ones seen by the Post.
• The draft no longer requires tech platforms to inform news outlets of algorithm changes, and there is no mechanism to ensure tech platforms and news outlets can overcome negotiation deadlocks.
• Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) chairman Sasmito Madrim said he had not seen the final draft submitted by the ministry, despite having been involved in the discussion process since the beginning.
• “The press community wants the committee to be put under the Press Council, as we had a bad experience when the government controlled the press under the New Order,” Sasmito said.

External Link : https://www.thejakartapost.com/paper/2023/07/26/new-rule-to-require-google-meta-to-prioritize-verified-news-outlets.html