🔍 Read the full analysis: Indonesia’s AI Bill Raises Copyright Questions For Meta, TikTok And Google on ThorstenMeyerAI.com
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TL;DR
Google, Meta and TikTok raised objections at a Nov. 11 parliamentary hearing on Indonesia’s proposed copyright-law revision. The draft addresses payments for news displayed by platforms and copyright rules for AI, but its current text is not publicly available and it has not become law.
Meta and TikTok joined Google in challenging parts of Indonesia’s proposed copyright-law revision at a parliamentary hearing in Jakarta on Nov. 11, as lawmakers consider new rules on payments for news content and the use of copyrighted works to train AI. The bill remains under discussion; it is not law, and the version currently before lawmakers was not available for review.
The proposal would revise Law No. 28 of 2014, Indonesia’s copyright law. It was approved as a parliamentary initiative on March 12, 2026, and is now being deliberated by parliament’s Legislation Body, known as Baleg, with the government. According to Kompas, the Nov. 11 hearing included Google, Meta, TikTok, the Press Council and Satu Lisensi Indonesia.
Google objected to proposed payments for news links and snippets, mandatory licensing arrangements for AI training, and a single collective licensing body, according to accounts of the hearing reported by Reuters, Suara and Kompas. The company argued that platforms should retain intermediary protections, or safe-harbor rules, and proposed allowing text and data mining unless rights holders opt out. It cited tools such as robots.txt as a possible way to signal that choice.
Meta argued that sharing a link is not the same as republishing a news story, and said payment duties could reduce the traffic and revenue that publishers receive. TikTok said AI-disclosure requirements should not apply when AI is used only as an assistive tool, and also called for safe-harbor protection. These are the companies’ positions, not agreed interpretations of the draft.
AI copyright bill faces platform objections
Google, Meta and TikTok challenged parts of Indonesia’s proposed copyright revision at a November 11 hearing. The bill remains under discussion and is not law.
What the proposal could cover
The revision brings news payments and AI copyright rules into one legislative process.
Links and previews
The proposal has been reported as covering compensation for some news aggregation, republication or previews. The current scope is unclear.
Training and permissions
The debate includes licensing, fair use and possible opt-outs for copyrighted works used to train AI.
Disclosure and control
An earlier draft addressed AI-assisted work, style imitation and disclosure, but those provisions may have changed.
Companies’ objections
These are positions presented at the hearing, not agreed interpretations of the bill.
| Company | Position reported |
|---|---|
| Objected to news link payments, mandatory AI training licenses and a single licensing body; proposed opt-outs for text and data mining. | |
| Meta | Argued that sharing a link is not republishing a story and warned payment duties could affect publisher traffic and revenue. |
| TikTok | Called for safe-harbor protection and said disclosure rules should distinguish AI assistance. |
What happens next
Baleg and the government continue deliberations; no vote date has been announced.
The version before lawmakers was not publicly available in the source material.
Lawmakers may revise provisions after hearing from platforms and other participants.
Obligations will not be enforceable law unless the measure is passed.
News Payments and AI Training
The proposal puts two growing disputes into one legislative process: whether platforms should pay publishers when they display or aggregate news, and how copyright applies when developers use protected works to train AI systems. If adopted, the rules could affect platform operations, publishers’ income and AI development in Indonesia. The precise effects would depend on the final text and how regulators apply it.
At the hearing, the Press Council presented a different account of the current market. Deputy chair Totok Suryanto 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; the available material does not provide a measurement period or independent verification. The council also said an existing requirement for platforms to support quality journalism has not worked as intended.
For AI companies, the dispute concerns whether use of copyrighted material for training would require licenses, fall under a fair-use framework, or be subject to an exception with an opt-out. For creators and publishers, the draft raises questions about control over works and how any compensation would be distributed. No final policy or payment mechanism has been confirmed.
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How the Draft Reached Parliament
Indonesia’s proposed revision would make the country’s copyright law speak more directly to generative AI. In July, Reuters reported provisions in an earlier draft that would address AI-assisted works, imitation of a creator’s distinctive style, disclosure of AI use and the use of copyrighted works for training. Law ministry official Hermansyah Siregar confirmed that the July draft was authentic but said it was not final. He described generative AI as a disruption to the copyright framework.
That July version reportedly proposed protecting AI-assisted work only when it met human-involvement criteria, while excluding fully AI-generated work from that protection. It did not specify how much human contribution would qualify. It also contemplated fair-use provisions or licensing for training and payments to publishers when platforms aggregated, republished or displayed news previews. Because the draft has since changed, those details cannot be assumed to remain in the text now being considered.
The bill would build on Presidential Regulation No. 32 of 2024, which requires digital platforms to support quality journalism. Suryanto told lawmakers compliance had been low, according to Aktual. Google’s references at the hearing to draft Articles 29 and 30 were reported by Suara, but the full current draft was unavailable and reports refer to different versions.
“A levy on links would leave Google “no choice” but to stop crawling, indexing and distributing Indonesian news.”
— Google representative Agung Pamungkas, as reported by Reuters
Draft Text and Vote Still Unsettled
The full version under discussion is not publicly available in the source material, and the draft has changed since the text reported in July. That means provisions described earlier—including rules on style imitation, human involvement, training licenses, collective payments and sanctions—may have been revised. References to particular article numbers are also provisional.
There is no announced date for a parliamentary vote, and it is not clear which company proposals lawmakers will accept. The available information also does not establish how any payment would be calculated, which uses of news would trigger it, or how a collective organization would distribute money. Claims about likely effects on traffic, publisher revenue or AI quality remain positions advanced by participants, rather than settled outcomes.
Lawmakers Continue Deliberations
Baleg and the government are continuing to deliberate the bill. The next key developments will be the publication or clarification of the current draft, any revisions following the Nov. 11 hearing, and an announcement of a vote or further hearings. Until lawmakers settle the text and pass the measure, the proposed obligations remain under consideration rather than enforceable law.
Readers should watch for the bill’s final language on news links and previews, AI-training permissions, opt-out mechanisms, disclosure duties and intermediary protections. Those provisions will determine whether the enacted law differs materially from the earlier draft and from the positions presented by platforms and publishers.
Key Questions
Has Indonesia passed the AI copyright bill?
No. The proposal remains under deliberation by parliament’s Legislation Body and the government. No vote date was reported in the source material.
What do Google, Meta and TikTok object to?
Google challenged payments for news links and snippets, mandatory AI-training licenses and a single collective licensing body. Meta argued that link sharing is not republication and warned that payment duties could affect publisher traffic and revenue. TikTok said disclosure rules should distinguish AI assistance from other uses. These are company positions.
What AI rules were described in the earlier draft?
A July draft reported by Reuters addressed AI-assisted works, style imitation, disclosure and copyrighted material used for training. The reported draft was not final, and its provisions may have changed before the November hearing.
Would platforms have to pay Indonesian news publishers?
The proposal has been reported as including compensation for some forms of news aggregation, republication or link previews. The current draft was not available, so the exact scope and payment arrangements are unclear.
Source: ThorstenMeyerAI.com
