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Cyber Media Guidelines

Freedom of opinion, expression and the press are human rights protected by the 1945 Constitution. Cyber media are part of that freedom, so they must be run with responsibility and professionalism and in compliance with Law Number 40 of 1999 on the Press and the Journalistic Code of Ethics.

Comfy Blog drew up these guidelines with reference to the Cyber Media Reporting Guidelines issued by the Press Council (Dewan Pers), and applies them to the management of all content on this site.

1. Scope

  • Cyber media means any form of media that uses the internet and carries out journalistic activities in accordance with the Press Law and the standards set by the Press Council.
  • User-generated content means any content created and published by users of cyber media, including articles, images, comments, audio, video and other uploads attached to the cyber media.

2. News Verification and Balance

  • In principle, every news item goes through verification.
  • News that could harm another party requires verification so that it is fair and balanced.
  • Exceptions apply only if the news involves an urgent public interest, the primary source of the news has a clear identity and is credible and competent, the subject of the news cannot be located or interviewed, and the media outlet tells readers that the news still requires further verification.
  • After a news item under these exceptions is published, the editors must continue the verification and publish the result, with a link to the unverified item.

3. User-Generated Content

If Comfy Blog opens space for user-generated content, such as a comment section, the following provisions apply:

  • Users must agree to terms and conditions that prohibit false, defamatory, sadistic and obscene content; content that expresses prejudice and hatred based on ethnicity, religion, race and intergroup relations (SARA) or advocates violence; and content that discriminates on the basis of gender or language or demeans the dignity of people who are weak, poor, ill, or have mental or physical disabilities.
  • The editors have the authority to edit or remove user-generated content that violates these provisions.
  • The editors provide a complaint mechanism for violating user-generated content and follow up on each complaint within 2 x 24 hours (48 hours) of receiving it.

4. Errata, Corrections and Right of Reply

  • Errata, corrections and rights of reply follow the Press Law, the Journalistic Code of Ethics and the Right of Reply Guidelines issued by the Press Council.
  • Errata, corrections and/or rights of reply are linked to the news item that is being corrected or answered, and carry a note of when they were published.
  • If a news item is distributed by other cyber media, responsibility for it stays with the outlet that produced it, while the outlet that distributed it must also publish the erratum, correction or right of reply.
  • Cyber media that do not honor the right of reply may be sanctioned under the Press Law.

5. Retraction of News

  • A news item that has been published cannot be retracted for reasons of censorship from outside the editorial team, except in matters involving ethnicity, religion, race and intergroup relations, decency, a child's future, a victim's traumatic experience, or other special considerations set by the Press Council.
  • Other cyber media must follow the retraction by removing quotations of the news that the original outlet has retracted.
  • Every retraction comes with a reason that is announced to the public.

6. Advertising

  • Cyber media must clearly distinguish between news products and advertisements.
  • Every news item, article or other content that is an advertisement and/or paid content must carry a label such as "advertorial", "advertisement", "ads", "sponsored" or another word that makes clear the content is an advertisement.

Comfy Blog respects copyright as regulated in the applicable laws and regulations.

8. Publication of the Guidelines

These guidelines are published openly on the Comfy Blog site so that users can read them easily.

9. Disputes

The final assessment of disputes over the implementation of these guidelines is made by the Press Council.