BANDUNG, unpas.ac.id – At the era of digitalization, social media are getting more interesting for society. Even more, our critical thought, which was usually said conventionally, is now moving on to be said in the social media.
The right of sending opinion freely has been officially set in the 1945 Constitution, stating that everyone has right their freedom to associate, gather and express their opinion. The freedom expression should be done proportionally so as not to harm other’s human rights.
These are also sent by the Dean of Unpas Faculty of Law, Dr. Anthon F. Susanto, SH., M.Hum. he said that in our social life, an individual live side by side; so that the freedom of opinion is limited.
“In order not to clash and lead to conflict, each individual must respect social institutions. When expressing opinions, there are norms of decency, ethics, religion, and laws that apply and must be obeyed,” he explained on Wednesday (June 9th, 2021).
However, after the issuance of Law No. 11/2008 regarding Information and Electronic Transaction (ITE), public thought that they are no longer free to express their opinions, especially on social media. The ITE Law is considered to limit people’s critical thinking, especially in criticizing government policies.
“The Law regulates the way people express their opinions or their ideas. In my opinion, as long as the expression of freedom does not offend social norms, the law will not give too much impacts,” he said.
The Law indeed gave strict and firm limitation therefore it could be better for us to check again before expressing opinion on social media; in order not to raise negative things.
“What can create the nation’s split or riot? These include some certain issues, for example, religious sentiments, social norms, ethnicity, race or such interference that meddle in the interest of the ruler. In this realm, there are certainly political and legal interest, even between societies,” he added.
A person cannot claim the neutrality, clearness or dis-harmfulness of the opinion they have expressed because there are no neutrality(ies) in the society. It could be quite clear, but it could not necessarily so for the others.
Therefore, Anthon gave three advices before expressing opinion on the social media. First, we need to make confirmation as much as we can about the information we are going to post. Second, we need to avoid sending hoax or uncertain news. Third, we also need to avoid posting about issues containing religion, ethnicity, race, or other things that can lead to conflicts.
“The limit surrounds on these things. If there are some problems occurring, we have right to defend, right to object and right to explain, do we? Even more, we are protected by the itself. What is most important thing is, that we should not be scared, but still careful. Our carefulness shows them our good intention,” he ended. (Reta Amaliyah S)*