- 17/10/2018
- Category: Commentaries
Haringga Sirla, a Persija supporter, was killed right after the match of Persija FC versus Persib FC in Gelora Bandung Lautan Api (GBLA) Stadium in Sunday, September 23rd 2018. According to the eyewitness, he was beaten up by eight people of Persib’s supporters (Bobotoh) with bottles, wooden stick and ceramic plate[1]. The attack happened because Haringga, as a supporter of the rival team, was sitting among the Bobotoh during the match, the police said. When the persecution happened, someone was recording the attack and then uploaded the video through social media. In result, the video of Haringga Sirla’s attack and death, that is full of violent graphic, quickly being circulated on the internet and become the talk of Indonesian internet community.
Rest in Peace, Haringga Sirla. (Cr: PSSI)
In response to this incident, Ministry of Communication and Information of the Republic of Indonesia (Kemkominfo) has put down over 450 URLs containing Haringga’s attack video and image[2]. However, the police authority is also in pursuit of the individual who uploaded the video in the first place for the action is deemed to have violated Indonesia’s Regulation on Electronic Information and Transaction (UU ITE) and posits danger for Indonesian society.
This article seeks to explain the legal, social, and psychological consequences of the spread of the video to the uploader, the victim’s family and relatives, and the society.
Legal consequences to the video uploader according to UU ITE
Indonesia bases its electronic information and transaction-related activity on Law No. 19/2016 and Law No.11/2008 regarding Electronic Information and Transaction (ITE). Both regulations are later known as UU ITE.
Within Law No.11/2008 article 29, it is stated that the spread of electronic information and transaction which contains violent threat and apprehending element and is aimed to an individual, is included as a violation of the law[3].
Furthermore, in Law No. 19/2016 article 45B, which contains the complementary elements for Law No.11/2008, it is stated that whoever violates the article 29 of Law No.11/2008 shall be imprisoned for maximum four years and fined for maximum Rp. 750.000.000,00[4].
Thus, according to UU ITE, the video of Haringga Sirla’s persecution can be categorized as a form of electronic document that contains violence and apprehending element. Therefore, considering that such action was purposefully exerted by an individual who has no right to spread the video, and possessing the possibility to damage the society, the spread of the video is considered a violation and the uploader will be charged, based on Law No. 19/2016.
Social and Psychological Consequences
Drawing from the legal perspective above, it is clear that the video of Haringga Sirla’s persecution contains negative content in the form of violent action. Such materials may possess social and psychological impact on the audience: the Haringga’s family, their relatives, and the society.
First, for Haringga’s family and relatives, such matter can hamper the healing process of the trauma caused by the incident. With the spread of the video in social media, every piece of violence exerted towards the victim becomes quite discernible and accessible to everyone. The ease to access the video will present a negative impact to Haringga’s family and relatives because if they are tempted or unintentionally view the video in social media, the trauma healing process becomes more hindered.
Second, a negative psychological impact will be conceived to the society exposed by such violent content. According to the Journal of Adolescent Health vol. 41 published by United States (US) National Library of Medicine, electronic violent content heightened the tendency of an adult to be more aggressive in short-range and children to also be more aggressive in short and long-range[5]. Furthermore, exposure to violent content can broaden the potential for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), paranoid, and antisocial behavior tendency to develop[6]. Consequentially, in Haringga’s case, considering the widespread access to watch and download the video, Indonesian society becomes more prone to a negative impact caused by such violent content.
Additionally, according to Indonesian Minister of Communication and Information (Menkominfo) Rudiantara, the widespread of the video in social media has been used as the fuel to provoke by some football supporters[7]. Some of them use the violent act contained in the video as an example of a great supporter loyalty. When football supporters dare to exert such action, their loyalty shall not be questioned.
Ignorance of social media ethics and rules
The widespread of the video of Haringga Sirla’s persecution is one of the consequences of public ignorance upon basic social media ethics and rules. The tendency within the society to race to be the first who spread the information has often made the society becomes less selective in sharing an electronic document, without considering the nature of the content itself[8]. Public ignorance upon UU ITE can also be the rationale on why such spread of electronic documents prohibited by the rule of law. Aside from that, lack of morality is also reflected from the scene. The fact that the individual chose to record the scene rather than helping the victim is also an indicator that ethics deconstruction is urgent to be done. Consequentially, literacy upon social media ethics and rules should be socialized by every element in the society to diminish the possibility of such incident to happen again in the future.
Editor: Lia Wulandari & Treviliana Eka Putri
Read another article written by Janitra Haryanto or article about negative content.
[1] Putra, N. (2018). Kronologi Pengeroyokan Suporter Persija hingga Tewas di GBLA. [online] liputan6.com. Available at: https://www.liputan6.com/news/read/3650987/kronologi-pengeroyokan-suporter-persija-hingga-tewas-di-gbla [Accessed 2 Oct. 2018]
[2] R., J. (2018). Kemkominfo Blokir 450 URL Video dan Foto Pengeroyokan Haringga. [online] liputan6.com. Available at: https://www.liputan6.com/tekno/read/3653527/kemkominfo-blokir-450-url-video-dan-foto-pengeroyokan-haringga [Accessed 5 Oct. 2018].
[3] UU no. 11 tahun 2008 tentang Informasi dan Transfer Elektronik (ITE), article 29.
[4] UU no. 19 tahun 2016 tentang Informasi dan Transfer Elektronik (ITE), article 45B.
[5] Huesmann, L. (2007). The Impact of Electronic Media Violence: Scientific Theory and Research. Journal of Adolescent Health, 41(6), pp.S6-S13
[6] Priatmojo, G. and Sunoto, D. (2018). Dampak Psikologis Menonton Video Pengeroyokan Suporter Persija. [online] himedik.com. Available at: https://www.himedik.com/info/2018/09/24/203543/dampak-psikologis-menonton-video-pengeroyokan-suporter-persija [Accessed 5 Oct. 2018].
[7] R., J. (2018). Kemkominfo Blokir 450 URL Video dan Foto Pengeroyokan Haringga. [online] liputan6.com. Available at: https://www.liputan6.com/tekno/read/3653527/kemkominfo-blokir-450-url-video-dan-foto-pengeroyokan-haringga [Accessed 5 Oct. 2018].
[8] Anwar, L. (2017). Foto Korban Kekerasan Tidak untuk Disebarluaskan. [online] KOMPAS.com. Available at: https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2017/01/19/21513081/foto.korban.kekerasan.tidak.untuk.disebarluaskan [Accessed 5 Oct. 2018].
