An Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI) commissioner has apologized for claiming that women could get pregnant from swimming in the same pool as men.

Amid concerns over data privacy, the 2020 population census by Statistics Indonesia (BPS) has started with the online phase – which is hoped to ease access for public participation across the country – already being plagued by glitches.

A growing number of people are falling foul of Indonesia’s Information and Electronic Transaction Law (ITE), which is notorious for being used to criminalise political dissidents.

Human rights lawyer Veronica Koman and journalist Dandhy Dwi Laksono were charged in September for allegedly “inciting hatred” on social media related to recent unrest in Papua.

Civil society organisations, trade unions and student groups have unanimously rejected President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s so-call Omnibus Law on Job Creation – which the government claims will cut red tape and remove “restrictive” regulations hindering business making it easier to attract foreign investment, and thereby create more jobs.

Almost as predictable as Jakarta’s annual floods are the blame game that inevitably follows. Within days of massive flooding that inundated large parts of Jakarta in the first weeks of 2020, the central government and the Jakarta administration were busy accusing each other of failing to prepare adequate flood control and prevention mechanisms.

Although Indonesia ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2011 and in 2016 passed Law Number 8/2016 which acknowledges the rights of people with disabilities, disabled people continue to be discriminated against in the job market and few public facilities accommodate the needs of disabled people.

On November 12, 11 ministries and state institutions signed a Joint Ministerial Decree (SKB Radikalisme) prohibiting civil servants from expressing opinions on social media that contain “hate speech” against the state ideology of Pancasila, the 1945 Constitution, the country’s motto of Bhinneka Tunggal Ika (Unity in Diversity) and the government.

The Finance Ministry has announced that it will freeze regional government accounts that have been channeling rural development funds (dana desa) to bogus villages, an official said on Tuesday.

Commander General Mochamad Iriawan (pictured) was elected Saturday as the new chief of the Indonesian Soccer Association (PSSI) for 2019-2023, making him the first police general to lead the country’s soccer association.

In his state of the nation address in August, President Joko Widodo outlined his vision to develop Indonesia’s human capital in the face of fierce international competition.

On September 30 President Joko Widodo passed a presidential regulation (Perpres) on the use of the Indonesian language which makes it mandatory for government officials to speak in Bahasa Indonesia when delivering formal speeches domestically or abroad.

On October 28, 1928, Indonesian students and youth gathered in Jakarta to declare the Youth Pledge – generally accepted as the first open declaration of Indonesian independence – which called for a united independent Indonesia under the theme of “One Nation, One People, One Language”.

Indonesians have expressed disappointment after President Joko Widodo (left) and Vice President Ma’ruf Amin (right) announced their new so-called “Working Cabinet 2” (Kabinet Kerja 2) lineup which included Widodo’s presidential election rival Prabowo Subianto (climbing rope ladder) – an ex-army general accused of human rights abuses – as defense minister.

Only days after country witnessed a massive wave of student-led protests against the weakening of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and a slew of anti-democratic legislation, the newly inaugurated members of the House of Representatives (DPR) now say they will prioritise the very laws that the students were protesting against.

Indonesia’s political parties have revived a proposal to reinstate the GBHN – the Broad Outlines of State Policy – which used to be issued by the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) to guide and direct national development during the New Order dictatorship of former president Suharto.

Anti-corruption activists say that President Joko Widodo (pictured centre) has ignored public input by going ahead and submitting the 10 names proposed by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) leadership selection committee to the House of Representatives for the final selection process.

A massive power failure hit the Indonesian capital of Jakarta and surrounding cities on Sunday affecting millions of people.The state electricity company PLN said the outage occurred when one of the gas turbines at its Suralaya plant shut down causing seven other turbines to trip followed by a shutdown of its gas turbine plant at Cilegon.

Concern has been expressed in both the Indonesian and foreign mainstream media that President Joko Widodo’s ruling coalition – which now holds around 60 percent of the seats in parliament – has become too “fat”.

The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) says that eighty percent of the land destroyed by forest fires in Indonesia this year will be converted into plantations, pointing the blame for the fires at unsustainable practices in the country’s agriculture industry.

According to the aid group Humanity Volunteer Team of Nduga – which has been helping communities displaced by armed conflict in Papua’s Nduga regency with food, health and education needs in Wamena – 182 civilians have died fleeing violence in the highlands.