PRIMA and IWO Indonesia Ready to Take Legal Action Against RM
JAKARTA-JAYA NEWS.COM – The Advanced Indonesia Editorial Community (PRIMA) and the Online Journalists Association (IWO.i) today, Monday, July 7, 2025, expressed their strong condemnation and readiness to take legal action, regarding the hoax accusations filed by a local media in Banggai Laut, Central Sulawesi. The local media accused the news broadcast by hundreds of previous editors of being a hoax, without including verification or valid supporting data.
PRIMA and IWO.i emphasized that these accusations, which are not accompanied by strong evidence, are unprofessional and slanderous actions that violate the journalistic code of ethics and applicable laws.
Hermanius Burunaung, a representative of PRIMA, expressed his concern about the phenomenon of the spread of hoaxes and slander that damages the credibility of journalists and press institutions.
In response to this, PRIMA and IWO.i have agreed to plan to report and follow up on the matter seriously to the Indonesian National Police Headquarters (Mabes Polri) in the near future.
Deputy Chairman of IWO, Ali Sofyan, explained that this legal step is important as a lesson so that the practice of baseless hoax accusations is not repeated in the future, in order to maintain the integrity of journalism.
“In this context, PRIMA and IWO.I highlight that RM, who is an editor-in-chief and not a news subject (reported), made corrections and accused other media of spreading false information or hoaxes. RM’s actions, without being accompanied by concrete evidence such as bank audit results, are very odd and further strengthen the suspicion of interests behind it or indications that he has been paid or received wages from certain parties,” said Ali Sofyan.
PRIMA also added that if the accusation is based on the interests of certain parties or the government that paid, this case has the potential to become a criminal case and will prove that the journalist in question is not independent and has been paid, which is a serious violation of journalistic ethics.
“PRIMA and IWO.I also do not rule out the possibility of reporting this case to various policy makers at the central level to ensure that justice is upheld,” added Hermanius, representing PRIMA.
The news that was accused of being a hoax had previously been reported by various parties to the nine highest policy makers, including the President of the Republic of Indonesia, indicating that the information had gone through a process and received attention from authorized agencies.
PRIMA and IWO.I urged the public to be more critical in receiving information and only trust verified news sources. They also appealed to all media actors to uphold journalistic ethics, carry out multi-layered verification, and avoid practices that are detrimental to the press profession.**
Publisher -Editorial Team
—
