Can Debt Collection Through Social Media Be Charged with Law No. 11 Of 2008 Concerning Electronic Information and Transactions?

With the times, social media has become a place for people to collect debts. In this case, information about someone's debt that is disclosed on social media becomes widely spread and known to the public. The incident raises the question of how the regulation views these actions. Disclosure of debt on social media generally aims to embarrass the debtor, thus the actions that defame and/or insult someone enter the field of criminal acts regulated in Article 310 to Article 321 of the Indonesian Criminal Code and Article 27 paragraph (3) Law No. 11 Of 2008 Concerning Electronic Information and Transactions (“UU ITE”). The difference between the two provisions is that UU ITE regulates defamation and/or insults committed in cyberspace.

Article 27 paragraph (3) of  UU ITE prohibits anyone from taking actions that “deliberately and without rights to distribute and/or transmit and/or make accessible electronic information and/or electronic documents that contain insults and/or defamation.” Regarding the implementation of Article 27 paragraph (3) of UU ITE, it can be seen in the Joint Decree of the Minister of Communication and Information Technology, the Attorney General, and the National Police Chief Number 229, 154, KB/2/VI/2021 of 2021 (“SKB UU ITE”):

1. It is not a criminal offense that violates Article 27 paragraph (3) of UU ITE, if the content that is transmitted, distributed, and/or made accessibly is in the form of insults which are categorized as insults, ridicule, and/or words that are not proper. For such an act, the qualification of a light insult offense can be used (Article 315 of the Criminal Code), in which the criminal sanction is a maximum imprisonment of 4 months and 2 weeks or a maximum fine of Rp. 4.5 million.
2. It is not an offense related to the content of insults and/or defamation in Article 27 paragraph (3) of UU ITE, if the content that is transmitted, distributed, and/or made accessibly is in the form of an assessment, opinion, evaluation result, or a fact.

Thus, according to the SKB UU ITE, the dissemination of debt information on social media cannot be subject to Article 27 paragraph (3) of the UU ITE because the content disclosed is a fact. However, the SKB UU ITE only applies as a standard for law enforcement officers and is not binding on judges’ considerations in their decisions, so judges can decide otherwise.

Thus, the explanation above is a brief description of debt collection on social media. If you are interested in knowing more about this, you can contact our law office, Suria Nataadmadja & Associates Law Firm.

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