🔍 Read the full analysis: AI Copyright Bill In Indonesia Draws Joint Opposition From Major Platforms on ThorstenMeyerAI.com
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TL;DR
Google, Meta and TikTok raised objections at an Indonesian parliamentary hearing on Nov. 11 over a proposed copyright-law revision covering payments for news links and rules for AI. The bill remains under deliberation, its current text was not available, and no vote date has been announced.
Meta and TikTok joined Google in challenging parts of Indonesia’s proposed copyright-law revision at a parliamentary hearing in Jakarta on Nov. 11, focusing on proposed payments for displaying news and rules for AI training. The bill is still under discussion by lawmakers and the government, and is not law.
The proposal revises Indonesia’s Copyright Law, Law No. 28 of 2014. Parliament approved it as an initiative in a plenary session on March 12, 2026, and its Legislation Body, known as Baleg, is now deliberating it with the government. On Nov. 11, Baleg heard from Google, Meta, TikTok, the Press Council and Satu Lisensi Indonesia, according to Kompas.
The bill would address both news distribution and artificial intelligence. A draft reported by Reuters in July proposed compensation when platforms aggregate, republish or display news, including link previews, with payments routed through state-supervised collective management organisations. It also proposed provisions on AI-generated and AI-assisted works, creator-style imitation, disclosure of AI use and the use of copyrighted material for model training. The July draft is not necessarily the version now before lawmakers.
Google objected to payment requirements for links and snippets, mandatory licensing through one collective body, and licensing all AI training data. It proposed a text-and-data-mining exception with an opt-out, such as robots.txt, and asked lawmakers to preserve intermediary safe-harbor protections. Meta argued that sharing a link is not the same as republishing material and said payment obligations could reduce publishers’ traffic and revenue. TikTok said AI disclosure should not be required when AI merely assists a creator, and also called for safe-harbor protection, according to the source account.
Copyright bill draws platform opposition
Google, Meta and TikTok challenged parts of Indonesia’s proposed copyright revision at a Nov. 11 hearing. The bill remains under deliberation and is not law.
What platforms challenged
Their objections focus on news payments, AI training rules and platform liability.
Links and licensing
Opposed payments for links and snippets, one mandatory licensing body and licensing all AI training data.
Link sharing
Argued that sharing a link is not republishing and payment rules could reduce publishers’ traffic and revenue.
AI disclosure
Said disclosure should not be required when AI only assists a creator, and called for safe-harbor protection.
Who could be affected
The proposal puts news distribution and AI use of creative work in the same legislative debate.
- Publishers seek compensation when platforms display or aggregate news.
- Creators face questions about consent, attribution and style imitation.
- Platforms warn payment rules could change how they surface local journalism.
- AI developers face unsettled rules for training data and AI-assisted works.
The proposal is still changing
The July draft reported by Reuters may differ from the version lawmakers are discussing.
Reuters described proposed rules on AI disclosure, creator-style imitation and copyrighted training material.
Baleg heard from Google, Meta, TikTok, the Press Council and Satu Lisensi Indonesia.
Lawmakers and the government are still discussing the proposal; no vote date has been announced.
Rules Could Reshape News and AI
The proposal could affect how Indonesians reach news online, how publishers are compensated, and what conditions apply when AI developers use copyrighted works. If a payment rule covers link previews or indexing, platforms may alter how they surface local journalism. Google told lawmakers that a levy on links could leave it with “no choice” but to stop crawling, indexing and distributing Indonesian news, according to Reuters. That is the company’s stated position, not a confirmed outcome.
The competing arguments reflect a direct policy tension. Publishers and press representatives say platforms benefit from news content and should contribute to journalism; platforms warn that obligations could reduce distribution or create licensing burdens. The bill’s AI provisions also raise questions for creators and developers about consent, attribution, training data and the boundary between human-authored and AI-assisted work. The specific legal tests and enforcement mechanisms remain unsettled.
The Press Council offered a different account of the existing relationship between platforms and publishers. Its deputy chair, Totok Suryanto, said platform compliance with a 2024 regulation supporting quality journalism is low, according to Aktual. At the hearing, the council also said platforms take 80 percent of digital advertising and that traffic from platforms to news sites has fallen by up to 70 percent, according to the source material. Those figures were presented by the council; their measurement methods and comparison periods were not provided.
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From July Draft to November Hearing
Reuters reported on AI-related clauses in a draft on July 17, citing a copy of the proposal. Hermansyah Siregar, a law ministry official overseeing intellectual property, confirmed that draft was authentic but said it was not final. He described generative AI as disrupting the copyright framework and said the draft would give AI explicit recognition in Indonesia’s copyright law.
As described in Reuters’ July report, the draft would bar AI from imitating a creator’s “distinctive style,” require disclosure of AI use, and protect AI-assisted work only if it met human-involvement criteria. It would exclude fully AI-generated work from copyright protection, though the draft did not specify how much human contribution would qualify. It also contemplated fair-use provisions or licensing for copyrighted works used in AI training. These points describe an earlier draft, not confirmed final provisions.
The revision would build on Presidential Regulation No. 32 of 2024, which requires digital platforms to support quality journalism. The Press Council has said that rule has not worked as intended. At the November hearing, Google referred to draft Articles 29 and 30 as requiring payment for indexing, aggregation, curation and news snippets, according to Suara. Because the full current text was not available and reports refer to different versions, those article numbers and details should be treated as provisional.
“A levy on links would leave Google with “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 full version under discussion was not available in the source material, and the bill has changed since the July draft reported by Reuters. That makes it unclear which earlier provisions remain, how the current text defines a link or AI-assisted work, and what conditions would govern licenses, exceptions and opt-outs.
No vote date was announced. The hearing record also does not resolve how proposed compensation would be calculated or distributed, what enforcement and sanctions would apply in the current draft, or whether lawmakers will accept the platforms’ requests for safe-harbor protections. The Press Council’s advertising and traffic figures were presented as its claims; the account provided no baseline period or methodology for assessing them.
Lawmakers Continue Bill Deliberations
Baleg is expected to continue deliberating the proposal with the government after hearing from platforms, the Press Council and licensing representatives. No timetable for a parliamentary vote has been announced. The next substantive developments will be the publication or clarification of the text under consideration and any revisions that address news payments, AI training, creator protections and platform liability.
Until lawmakers approve a final text and it completes the applicable legislative process, the proposals remain subject to change. Statements made at the Nov. 11 hearing indicate the issues before lawmakers, but do not establish what the final law will require or how platforms will respond.
Key Questions
Has Indonesia passed the copyright bill?
No. The proposal is still under deliberation by parliament’s Legislation Body and the government. No vote date has been announced.
What are Google, Meta and TikTok objecting to?
The platforms raised concerns about proposed payments tied to displaying news and about AI-related rules. Google also opposed mandatory licensing for training data and a single collective licensing body; Meta argued that links are not republication; TikTok said disclosure should not cover AI used only as assistance.
Would the bill require platforms to pay publishers for links?
An earlier draft reported by Reuters proposed compensation for news aggregation, republication and link previews. Google said the draft under discussion would also require payment for activities such as indexing and displaying snippets. The current full text was unavailable, so the final scope is not confirmed.
What AI rules appeared in the reported draft?
The July draft described by Reuters addressed style imitation, disclosure of AI use, copyright for AI-assisted work and licensing or fair use for training data. It proposed excluding fully AI-generated work from protection, but did not define the human contribution needed. These provisions may have changed.
When will lawmakers vote?
No vote date has been announced. Baleg and the government are still deliberating the bill, and its wording remains unsettled.
Source: ThorstenMeyerAI.com
