January 14, 2026 | 06:04 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The government is drafting a bill aimed at countering foreign disinformation and propaganda. Coordinating Minister for Law, Human Rights, Immigration, and Correction Affairs Yusril Ihza Mahendra confirmed the initiative, telling Tempo via text message on Tuesday, January 13, 2026, "Indeed, there will be [such a bill]."
However, he did not elaborate on the regulations to be included in the Draft Law on Combating Foreign Disinformation and Propaganda. He noted that the draft is currently being prepared by the Ministry of Law.
Yusril added that the bill is presently with Minister of Law Supratman Andi Agtas. "I haven't read it myself, so I can't answer questions yet," said Yusril.
Meanwhile, Supratman could not be reached for confirmation. He did not respond to Tempo's messages or calls as of Tuesday night, January 13, 2026.
Co-Founder of Raksha Initiatives, Wahyudi Djafar, also noted reports that the government is readying the Draft Law on Combating Foreign Disinformation and Propaganda. According to him, the academic draft for the policy emerged quite suddenly. "It should have appeared during the drafting process of the National Legislation Program (Prolegnas)," Wahyudi said when contacted on Tuesday.
He pointed out that the deadline for drafting the 2025-2029 National Legislation Program was September 2025, yet the bill had not surfaced at that time.
The Draft Law on Combating Foreign Disinformation and Propaganda also failed to appear in the 2026 Priority Prolegnas, Wahyudi observed. Bills currently listed in the program include the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill, an amendment to the Personal Data Protection Law, and the Indonesian Single Data Bill, among others.
Regarding disinformation and propaganda, Wahyudi continued, the latest revision of the Information and Electronic Transactions or ITE Law already addresses content governance. He explained that the current policy mandates a revision of Government Regulation No. 71 of 2019 concerning the Operation of Electronic Systems and Transactions to refine clauses on content and digital platform accountability.
He noted that the revision of Government Regulation 71/2019 is still being processed by the Ministry of Communication and Digital. "But instead, a draft of the academic paper for the Draft Law on Combating Foreign Disinformation and Propaganda suddenly emerged. So, where does the urgency for this academic draft actually come from?" Wahyudi questioned.
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