Freedom of speech, freedom of expression, and freedom of the press are rights protected by Pancasila, the 1945 Constitution, and the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The existence of cyber media in Indonesia is also part of freedom of speech, freedom of expression, and freedom of the press. Cyber media has a special characteristic so that it requires guidelines so that its management can be carried out professionally, fulfilling its functions, rights and obligations in accordance with Law No. 40/1999 concerning the Press and Journalistic Code of Ethics. For this reason, the Press Council, together with press organizations, cyber media managers, and the public, have formulated the Cyber Media Coverage Guidelines as follows:

1. Scope
   1. Cyber media are all forms of media that use the internet and conduct journalistic activities, and fulfill the requirements of the Press Law and Press Company Standards set by the Press Council.
   2. User Generated Content is all content created and or published by cyber media users, including articles, pictures, comments, sounds, videos and various forms of uploads attached to cyber media, such as blogs, forums, reader comments. or viewers, and other forms.
2. News Verification & Fairness
   1. In principle, every news must be verified
   2. News that can harm other parties requires verification within the same news to fulfill the principles of accuracy and fairness.
   3. The provisions in point (a) above are excluded, on condition that:
      • The news contains urgent public interest;
      • The original news source is a source that is clearly identified, credible and competent;
      • The subject of the news that must be confirmed is unknown and or cannot be interviewed;
      • The media explains to the readers that the news still needs further verification as soon as possible. Explanations are included at the end of the same story, in parentheses and italicized. 
   4. After publishing the news in accordance with point (c), the media is obliged to continue the verification, and after verification is obtained, the verification results are included in the updated news with a link to the previous unverified news.
3. User Generated Content
   1. Cyber media must include terms and conditions regarding User Generated Content that does not conflict with Law no. 40/1999 concerning the Press and the Journalistic Code of Ethics, which are well placed and easy to understand.
   2. Cyber media requires each user to register and log-in first to be able to publish all forms of User Generated Content. Provisions regarding log-in will be further regulated.
   3. During registration, cyber media requires users to give written consent that the published User Generated Content:
      • Does not contain lies, libel, sadistic and obscene contents;
      • Does not contain prejudice and hatred related to ethnicity, religion, race, and societal group and encourages acts of violence
      • Does not contain discriminatory content on the basis of gender and language differences, and does not demean the weak, poor, sick, mentally handicapped, or physically disabled.
   4. Cyber media has absolute authority to edit or delete User Generated Content that is contrary to item (c).
   5. Cyber media must provide a complaint mechanism for User Generated Content that is deemed to have violated the provisions in point (c). The mechanism should be provided in a place that is easily accessible to users.
   6. Cyber media must edit, delete, and take corrective actions for any User Generated Content that is reported and violates the provisions of point (c), as soon as possible proportionally no later than 2 x 24 hours after the complaint is received.
   7. Cyber media that have complied with the provisions in points (a), (b), (c), and (f) are not responsible for problems caused by a published content that violates the provisions in point (c).
   8. Cyber media is responsible for User Generated Content that is reported if it does not take corrective action after the time limit as stated in point (f).
4. Clarification, Correction and the Right of Reply
   1. Clarification, correction, and the right of reply refer to the Press Law, Journalistic Code of Ethics, and Guidelines to the Right of Reply established by the Press Council.
   2. Clarifications, corrections and or the right to reply must be linked to the news that is clarified, corrected or given the right to reply.
   3. It is obligatory to state the time of publication for each news related to clarification, correction and the right of reply.
   4. Bila suatu berita media siber tertentu disebarluaskan media siber lain, maka:
      • Tanggung jawab media siber pembuat berita terbatas pada berita yang dipublikasikan di media siber tersebut atau media siber yang berada di bawah otoritas teknisnya;
      • Koreksi berita yang dilakukan oleh sebuah media siber, juga harus dilakukan oleh media siber lain yang mengutip berita dari media siber yang dikoreksi itu;
      • Media yang menyebarluaskan berita dari sebuah media siber dan tidak melakukan koreksi atas berita sesuai yang dilakukan oleh media siber pemilik dan atau pembuat berita tersebut, bertanggung jawab penuh atas semua akibat hukum dari berita yang tidak dikoreksinya itu.
   5. Sesuai dengan Undang-Undang Pers, media siber yang tidak melayani hak jawab dapat dijatuhi sanksi hukum pidana denda paling banyak Rp500.000.000 (Lima ratus juta rupiah).
5. Pencabutan Berita
   1. Berita yang sudah dipublikasikan tidak dapat dicabut karena alasan penyensoran dari pihak luar redaksi, kecuali terkait masalah SARA, kesusilaan, masa depan anak, pengalaman traumatik korban atau berdasarkan pertimbangan khusus lain yang ditetapkan Dewan Pers.
   2. Media siber lain wajib mengikuti pencabutan kutipan berita dari media asal yang telah dicabut.
   3. Pencabutan berita wajib disertai dengan alasan pencabutan dan diumumkan kepada publik.
6. Iklan
   1. Media siber wajib membedakan dengan tegas antara produk berita dan iklan.
   2. Setiap berita/artikel/isi yang merupakan iklan dan atau isi berbayar wajib mencantumkan keterangan ”advertorial”, ”iklan”, ”ads”, ”sponsored”, atau kata lain yang menjelaskan bahwa berita/artikel/isi tersebut adalah iklan.
7. Hak Cipta
   • Media siber wajib menghormati hak cipta sebagaimana diatur dalam peraturan perundang-undangan yang berlaku.
8. Pencantuman Pedoman
   • Media siber wajib mencantumkan Pedoman Pemberitaan Media Siber ini di medianya secara terang dan jelas.
9. Sengketa
   • Penilaian akhir atas sengketa mengenai pelaksanaan Pedoman Pemberitaan Media Siber ini diselesaikan oleh Dewan Pers.

*Dokumen resmi Pedoman Media Siber dapat diakses pada laman resmi Dewan Pers. (disini)