Indonesia contemplates on revising controversial Internet law 25th February 2021
Illustration President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) hinted at a likely revision to the country’s Internet law Law No 11 of 2008 on Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE) especially to correct articles open to multiple interpretations.
“If its implementation leads to injustice, the law needs to be revised,” Jokowi had tweeted on Feb 15, 2021.
The ITE law essentially regulates the exchange of information and other electronic transactions. It enunciates what is banned on the internet. However, some critics view that its defamation article had been misused to criminalize certain parties, thereby not boding well with the freedom of expression.
Over 900 Current and Former Lawmakers Worldwide Rebuke Beijing for Persecuting Falun Gong
A total of 921 lawmakers from 35 countries and regions worldwide issued a joint statement on International Human Rights Day to condemn the Chinese regime’s decades-long persecution of the spiritual practice Falun Gong.
Falun Gong, or Falun Dafa, was introduced in China in the 1990s, known for its meditative exercises and moral teachings centered around three principles: truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance.
Its growing popularity about 70 million to 100 million adherents by 1999, according to state estimates at the time was deemed a threat by the Chinese regime, which then launched a brutal suppression campaign in July 1999. Millions have since been thrown into prisons, labor camps, psychiatric wards, and other facilities. Hundreds of thousands have suffered torture, according to estimates from the Falun Dafa Information Center.