🔍 Read the full analysis: Indonesia’s AI Copyright Proposal Sparks A Clash With Major Platforms on ThorstenMeyerAI.com
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TL;DR
Google, Meta and TikTok objected at a Nov. 11 parliamentary hearing to provisions in Indonesia’s proposed copyright law revision, including payments for news links and rules for AI training. The bill is still under discussion, its current text was not available, and no vote date has been announced.
Google, Meta and TikTok challenged Indonesia’s proposed copyright-law changes at a parliamentary hearing in Jakarta on Nov. 11, objecting to provisions that could require payments for showing news links and establish rules for copyrighted works used to train artificial intelligence systems. The bill remains under deliberation, and no vote date has been announced.
The proposal would revise Indonesia’s Copyright Law, Law No. 28 of 2014. Parliament approved it as an initiative in a March 12, 2026, plenary session. The Legislation Body, known as Baleg, is now discussing it with the government. At the Nov. 11 hearing, lawmakers heard from the three platforms, the Press Council and Satu Lisensi Indonesia, according to Kompas.
The companies raised different concerns. Google opposed payments tied to links and news snippets, a single collective licensing body and mandatory licenses for AI training data. It also called for platforms to retain safe-harbor protections. Meta argued that sharing a link is not the same as republishing an article, and said payment duties could reduce publishers’ traffic and revenue. TikTok said disclosure rules should not apply when AI is used only as an assistant, and also sought safe-harbor protection.
The complete version being discussed was not available in the source reporting. The bill has changed since a draft reported in July, and news reports refer to different versions. Provisions described from that earlier draft should not be treated as confirmed terms of the current text.
AI copyright proposal draws platform objections
Google, Meta and TikTok challenged proposed rules at a Nov. 11 parliamentary hearing. The bill remains under discussion, and its current text is unclear.
What platforms challenged
The proposals could shape how publishers earn from news links and how copyrighted works are used in AI development.
Links and AI licenses
Opposed payments for links and snippets, centralized licensing, and mandatory AI training licenses.
Links are not republication
Said payment duties could reduce publishers’ traffic and revenue.
AI assistance disclosures
Said disclosure rules should not apply when AI is used only as an assistant.
Who could feel the effects
The eventual rules could affect access to journalism, publisher income and AI development.
- Payment rules could change how platforms show news.
- Publishers’ traffic and revenue are part of the dispute.
- AI training rules could shape access to copyrighted works.
- Disclosure and human contribution appeared in an earlier draft.
The proposal is still unsettled
The July draft is background, not a confirmed account of the text lawmakers are discussing now.
A July version described possible AI and news-link provisions; it was not final.
Platforms and other groups presented views to lawmakers on Nov. 11.
Baleg and the government are discussing the bill. No vote date has been announced.
News Links and AI Training at Stake
The dispute puts two questions before Indonesian lawmakers: how platforms should compensate publishers when news appears in search results or previews, and how copyright should apply when protected works are used in AI development. The answers could affect publishers’ income, how people find journalism, and the material available to developers building AI systems for Indonesian users.
Google warned lawmakers that a payment requirement for links could alter how it handles Indonesian news. Its representative said the company would have “no choice” but to stop crawling, indexing and distributing local news if such a levy were imposed, according to Reuters. That is the company’s stated position, not an announced decision or an outcome established by the proposal.
The Press Council offered a contrasting account of the market. It told lawmakers that platforms take 80 percent of digital advertising and that traffic from platforms to news sites has fallen by up to 70 percent. Those figures were presented by the council; the supplied reporting does not provide a measurement period or a fuller methodology. The disagreement reflects competing claims about whether platforms’ use of news supports publishers by sending readers or weakens their ability to earn revenue.
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From July Draft to November Hearing
Reuters reported on an earlier draft on July 17, citing a copy it had reviewed. Law ministry intellectual-property official Hermansyah Siregar confirmed that draft was authentic, while also saying it was not final. He described generative AI as a disruption to the copyright framework and said the proposal would provide Indonesia’s first explicit recognition of AI in its copyright law.
As Reuters described it, the July draft would address whether AI may imitate a creator’s distinctive style, require disclosure of AI use, and protect AI-assisted works only when they meet a human-involvement threshold. It would exclude fully AI-generated works from that protection, though the draft did not specify how much human contribution would count. It also proposed treating copyrighted material used for AI training under fair-use provisions or licensing agreements.
That earlier version also described compensation for platforms that aggregate, republish or show news through link previews, with payments channelled through state-supervised collective management organisations. It included possible sanctions for noncompliance, including revocation of local business permits. Indonesia already has Presidential Regulation No. 32 of 2024, which requires digital platforms to support quality journalism. At the hearing, Press Council deputy chair Totok Suryanto said the regulation had not worked as intended and platform compliance was low, according to Aktual.
““No choice” but to stop crawling, indexing and distributing Indonesian news.”
— Google representative at the Nov. 11 hearing, as reported by Reuters
Current Draft and Vote Remain Open
The text currently before lawmakers has not been established in the available reporting. The source account says the draft changed after July, the full text under discussion could not be obtained, and reports describe different versions. As a result, the precise scope of any link-payment rule, AI training provisions, exceptions, enforcement powers and licensing arrangements remains unclear.
It is also not clear what final compromise, if any, lawmakers and the government may reach, or whether the platforms’ objections will lead to changes. The company statements describe positions on the proposals; they do not establish how the rules would operate in practice or what platforms would ultimately do.
Lawmakers Continue Bill Deliberations
Baleg and the government are continuing deliberations on the revision. The supplied reporting identifies no announced date for a vote. The next key development will be publication or confirmation of the version lawmakers are considering, followed by any amendments or decisions on the contested provisions.
Until that text and the legislative timetable are clearer, publishers, creators, AI developers and platforms cannot know the final scope of their obligations. The July draft provides background, but it should not be treated as enacted law or a definitive account of the current proposal.
Key Questions
Has Indonesia passed the copyright bill?
No. The proposal is still under deliberation by parliament’s Legislation Body and the government. The supplied reporting gives no date for a vote.
What did Google, Meta and TikTok object to?
Google challenged payments for news links and snippets, centralized licensing and mandatory AI training licenses. Meta said links are not republication and warned that payment duties could affect publishers’ traffic and revenue. TikTok opposed disclosure requirements for AI used only as assistance and sought safe-harbor protection.
What AI rules appeared in the July draft?
Reuters reported that the earlier draft addressed disclosure of AI use, protection for works with sufficient human involvement, imitation of a creator’s distinctive style and the use of copyrighted works for training. The draft did not specify the required level of human contribution, and it was not final.
What remains unknown about the proposal?
The full text currently under discussion, the final wording of its provisions, the outcome of the platforms’ objections and the timing of a parliamentary vote remain unclear.
Source: ThorstenMeyerAI.com
