The seminar entitled constitution with the theme ‘Constitutional Imposition of Crimes for Perpetrators of Hate Speech’ was held at the University of Muhammadiyah Surakarta (UMS) Campus, Tuesday (8/10/2019). The seminar in collaboration between UMS and the Constitutional Court presented four speakers who were experts in their respective fields.
One of them is Prof. Dr. Moh. Mahfud MD., S.H or commonly known as Mahfud MD. Mahfud explained that currently the government and the apparatus are quite serious in regulating and dealing with the problem of hate speech in Indonesia.
There are too many hate speeches, making this problem not completely resolved. Even though currently there are legal instruments in Indonesia, the police and state intelligence already have tools to track hate speech and hoaxes.
Even so, the former chairman of the Constitutional Court (MK) also appealed that the public should not be afraid to criticize the government. “You don’t have to be afraid to criticize the president if something goes wrong. However, the criticism is carried out in a polite manner so as not to vilify him, because it is already included in hate speech.”
In front of three hundreds of students who packed the seminar room of the Siti Walidah UMS building, Tuesday (8/10), Mahfud explained seven categories of hate speech: (1) Defamation, (2) Humiliation, (3) Blasphemy, (4) Unpleasant acts. , (5) Provocation, (6) Incitement and (7) Spreading false news (hoaks).
Another speaker is a criminal law expert, Prof. Syamsul Bachri, Prof. Aidul Fitriciada, and Arteria Dahlan. The keynote speaker was the Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court, Anwar Usman.