Legal Analysis of Amendments to Law Number 1 of 2024 Concerning ITE in Handling Hoaxes and Hate Speech

Abstract

The amendment of Article 28 in the Electronic Information and Transactions Law (UU ITE) through Law No. 1 of 2024 is a response to public criticism regarding the misuse of vague legal provisions to suppress freedom of expression. This study aims to examine the extent to which the amendment clarifies the boundary between legitimate expression and the spread of hate speech or hoaxes. The research uses a normative juridical method with statutory, case, and conceptual approaches. The findings indicate that while the revised article contains improved legal phrasing, the potential for multiple interpretations remains due to the lack of clear definitions for several key terms. This paper also compares the revised provision with Constitutional Court Decision No. 76/PUU-XV/2017 and the Ministry of Communication and Informatics' 2024 Digital Ethics Guidelines as a non-regulatory educational approach. Case studies such as Jerinx SID and Bintang Emon’s satire demonstrate that legal amendments alone are insufficient without reform in law enforcement practices. Therefore, harmonization between regulation, enforcement, and the protection of human rights is essential to ensure that the amendment delivers not only textual change but also substantive justice.