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TL;DR
Indonesia’s parliamentary Legislation Body heard objections from Google, Meta and TikTok on November 11 as it deliberates a proposed revision to the country’s 2014 Copyright Law. The draft addresses AI training, creator rights and payment for news content, but its current text and timetable for a vote remain unclear.
Google, Meta and TikTok urged Indonesian lawmakers to reconsider parts of a proposed copyright-law revision at a November 11 hearing, where the draft’s treatment of AI training data and payments for news content drew competing objections. The proposal is still being deliberated by parliament and the government, and is not law.
The proposal would revise Law No. 28 of 2014, Indonesia’s copyright law. Parliament approved the initiative in a plenary session on March 12, 2026, and its Legislation Body, known as Baleg, is now discussing it with the government. At the November 11 hearing, Baleg heard from the three technology companies, the Press Council and licensing group Satu Lisensi Indonesia, according to Kompas.
The AI provisions first reported by Reuters in July were drawn from a draft that law ministry official Hermansyah Siregar confirmed was authentic, while stressing it was not final. That version proposed rules on whether AI-assisted work qualifies for copyright protection, disclosure of AI use, imitation of a creator’s distinctive style, and the use of copyrighted material for AI model training through fair use or licensing. It would exclude fully AI-generated work from protection, but did not define how much human contribution would be required.
The November hearing focused on disputes over how copyright obligations would work in practice. Google objected to payment for links and news snippets, a single collective licensing body and mandatory licenses for AI training. Meta argued that sharing a link is not republication and said payment duties could reduce publishers’ traffic and revenue. TikTok said disclosure rules should not cover cases where AI only assists a creator. The companies also sought to retain platform safe-harbor protections, according to reports on the hearing.
Copyright at the center of Indonesia’s proposed AI bill
Google, Meta and TikTok challenged parts of a proposed copyright-law revision at a November 11 hearing. Parliament is still deliberating; the proposal is not law.
What the proposal covers
The draft would revise Indonesia’s 2014 Copyright Law, addressing AI, creators and news payments.
Protected works and licensing
The July draft described training uses through fair use or licensing; the current wording is unclear.
Protection and disclosure
It raised questions about AI-assisted work, disclosure and imitation of a creator’s distinctive style.
Payments to publishers
Draft provisions could require payment when platforms distribute or use news content.
Where the companies disagree
At the hearing, platforms challenged how proposed obligations could work in practice.
- Google opposed payment for links and snippets, a single licensing body and mandatory AI training licenses.
- Meta said links are not republication and payments could reduce publisher traffic and revenue.
- TikTok said disclosure should not apply when AI only assists a creator.
- The Press Council argued platforms take a large share of digital advertising and referrals to news sites have fallen.
- It said Presidential Regulation No. 32 of 2024 had not worked as intended.
- Publishers may gain revenue if platforms pay to use or display their reporting.
How the proposal reached this point
The draft has changed in status and remains under discussion.
Parliament approved the revision initiative on March 12, 2026.
Reuters reported AI clauses in July; a law ministry official said that draft was authentic but not final.
Baleg heard technology companies, the Press Council and Satu Lisensi Indonesia on November 11.
Baleg and the government are still discussing the proposal; no vote date was reported.
What remains unresolved
The full text under discussion was not available in the supplied reporting.
- How much human input would qualify AI-assisted work for protection.
- How style imitation and AI disclosure would be defined.
- Which training uses would require a license.
- What news payments, collective licensing and platform protections would look like.
Copyright Rules Shape AI and News
The proposal joins two disputes that affect how digital services operate: who can use copyrighted material to train AI, and whether platforms should pay publishers when they display or distribute news. Rules on training could affect AI developers’ access to text, images and other protected works, as well as the terms creators can set for that use. The bill’s approach could also influence how Indonesian-language material is represented in AI systems, though the companies’ arguments about effects on model quality remain claims, not established outcomes.
For publishers, payments could create a new revenue stream if platforms use their reporting in search results, previews or aggregation. But the Press Council presented a different account of the current balance: deputy chair Totok Suryanto 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, according to the source reports. Those figures were presented by the council; the supplied material does not specify the underlying measurement period or comparison basis.
The disagreement is consequential for readers as well as businesses. A new payment obligation could change what news platforms display or how they link to Indonesian outlets. Google warned lawmakers that a levy on links could lead it to stop crawling, indexing and distributing Indonesian news. That is the company’s stated position, not a confirmed outcome. The final wording will determine whether the bill protects creators and publishers without restricting access to news or making routine online distribution harder.
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From July Draft to November Hearing
The revision is a parliamentary initiative, rather than a government bill already in force. Reuters reported the proposed AI clauses on July 17, citing a draft. Siregar said the generative-AI boom had disrupted the copyright framework and described the proposal as Indonesia’s first explicit recognition of AI in copyright law. He also said the text was not final.
The draft’s news provisions have been contentious alongside the AI rules. According to Reuters’ account of the July version, platforms would pay compensation for aggregating, republishing or previewing news, and for using news in AI training. Payments would pass through state-supervised collective management organisations to publishers. That version also proposed sanctions, potentially including revocation of local business permits, for noncompliance. At the November hearing, Google referred to draft Articles 29 and 30 on payments for indexing, aggregation, curation and news snippets, according to Suara. The full version under discussion was not available in the supplied reporting, and provisions may have changed.
The bill follows Presidential Regulation No. 32 of 2024, which requires digital platforms to support quality journalism. Suryanto told lawmakers the regulation had not worked as intended and that platform compliance was low, according to Aktual. That criticism helps explain why publishers and lawmakers are considering stronger measures, while technology companies argue that compulsory payments and licensing could disrupt existing distribution and rights arrangements.
““The development of generative AI has disrupted the copyright framework.””
— Hermansyah Siregar, a law ministry official overseeing intellectual property, speaking to Reuters
Draft Text and Vote Still Unknown
The full text now before Baleg was not available in the supplied reporting, and the July draft is not necessarily an accurate guide to every provision under discussion. Reports cite different versions, so specific article numbers and proposed obligations should be treated as provisional. No date for a parliamentary vote was reported.
Several policy questions also remain unresolved in the available material: how much human input would qualify an AI-assisted work for protection; how style imitation would be defined; what disclosures would be required; and how training uses would qualify for fair use or require a license. The sources do not establish the final scope of platform payments, the design of any collective licensing body, or what safe-harbor protections would remain.
It is also unclear whether lawmakers will accept the companies’ proposals for exceptions and opt-outs, or how a final law would interact with existing rules. The likely effects on publishers’ income, referral traffic, AI development and reader access cannot be determined from the draft descriptions alone.
Baleg’s Deliberations Continue
Baleg is continuing deliberations with the government after the November 11 hearing. The next key development will be a clearer, updated draft showing which provisions remain and how lawmakers respond to the platforms, publishers and licensing representatives who addressed them. The supplied reporting identifies no announced vote date.
Until the text advances and is finalized, the proposed rules should not be treated as legal requirements. Readers and affected organisations will need to watch for revised language on training licenses, AI disclosure, creator protections, payments for news distribution and platform liability.
Key Questions
Has Indonesia passed the proposed AI copyright bill?
No. The revision is still under parliamentary deliberation with the government and is not law.
What AI issues would the proposal address?
The July draft described in Reuters’ reporting covered AI training on copyrighted works, disclosure of AI use, protection for human-assisted work and imitation of a creator’s distinctive style. Those provisions may have changed.
Why are Google, Meta and TikTok objecting?
The companies raised concerns about payments for news links and snippets, licensing arrangements, AI training obligations and intermediary liability. Their objections are positions presented to lawmakers, not proof of the proposal’s effects.
Would platforms have to pay Indonesian news publishers?
Versions of the draft described in reporting would require compensation for some uses of news, including aggregation or link previews. The current text and final scope of any payment duty are unclear.
When could lawmakers vote on the bill?
The supplied reporting gives no announced date for a vote. Baleg and the government are still discussing the proposal.
Source: ThorstenMeyerAI.com
