Jakarta: Amnesty International Indonesia Executive Director Usman Hamid considers that global press freedom is currently experiencing a setback. The same thing also happened in Indonesia which is a democratic country.
"Civil liberties globally are indeed in a recession. This includes press freedom which is retreating. Indonesia is also not an exception to the global recession in terms of freedom," Usman told Media Indonesia, Wednesday, May 3, 2023.
Usman said that the decline in press freedom was inseparable from the role of the ruling regime. In fact, freedom of the press is one of the elements of a democratic state that should be guarded by the political elite.
"Most of the reasons come from the top level, namely the elite who are less committed to press freedom and democracy. So there must be even more serious efforts in maintaining the democratic system, namely by guaranteeing press freedom," he said.
Usman agrees with the statement by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres who said that the fate of press freedom is in the balance. This is illustrated in various events in various countries.
"Journalists and the media are still subject to attacks and threats, especially when covering sensitive issues or those related to corruption, human rights and government policies," he said.
Even in Indonesia, efforts to suppress critical media are still occurring. In the current era of information technology, digital attacks aimed at the mass media are increasingly occurring, as a response to critical news. This is as revealed by the Journalist Safety Committee.
"One example is the digital attack on the Multatuli Project website last March. This attack is an attempt to silence criticism of various parties being criticized, as well as to injure press freedom, whose independence has been guaranteed in Law Number 40 of 1999 concerning the Press," said Usman. (Kevin Omar Schreiber)
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