Increased restrictions on foreign journalists makes bad press for Indonesia

For foreign journalists, reporting on Indonesia is already difficult enough with so many conditions and restrictions that come with their visa and work permit. Though not as bad as it was during the Soeharto years, Indonesia still counts among the strictest as far as foreign journalists are concerned in comparison with many other countries in the region.

Now, the National Police have come up with another obstacle: Foreign journalists need to have police permits to work in “certain locations”, without clarifying what or where they are. The new rule is stipulated in the Police Regulation No. 3/2025 on supervision of foreigners, which applies to all foreigners, but cites journalists and researchers as examples.

Foreign journalists intending to reside in Indonesia must go through a lengthy bureaucratic process before they can move here, assuming their visas are approved. There have been reports that some have already been rejected. Their visas and work permits are subject to periodic review, typically a year, giving the government the option to reject the extension if their reporting is perceived as negative. No need for deportation, visas simply will not be renewed.

Indonesia is not exactly welcoming their presence, and the latest police regulation will not endear the country further. If the government is not careful, restrictions on foreign journalists will be part of the news, perhaps even front page news. This raises serious questions about Indonesia’s credentials as the world’s third-largest democracy.

Many foreign journalists cover Indonesia from Singapore or Thailand, countries that are not exactly known for protecting press freedom. However, securing a short-term journalist visa is just as complicated, and sometimes lengthy, and often with no guarantee of approval.

Papua is technically off-limits to foreign journalists. The government says they are not banned from Papua, however additional restrictions make it almost impossible for journalists to go there. Only a handful of foreign correspondents have managed to visit Papua, the eastern-most region that has seen escalating conflict between the military and separatist rebels in the last 20 years.

The new regulation, if enforced, further restricts journalist mobility and flexibility in covering the vast country.

Responding to criticism of the new policy, National Police chief Gen. Sigit Listyo Prabowo said the permits are not mandatory for foreign journalists. But unless he rescinds the regulation, which he has not, the local police will be obliged to implement it.

The lack of clarity about “certain locations” in the regulation appears deliberate, giving police the power to arrest foreign journalists covering events that the government wishes to conceal, on grounds they lack the proper permit as stipulated by the regulation.

Under this regulation, police will be emboldened to arrest foreign journalists covering demonstrations and confiscate their videos or pictures. They have been doing this, but now they have the legal ground to do this and much more.

Listyo claimed the regulation “is necessary” to protect and serve foreigners, besides the main goal of protecting the country’s sovereignty.

The number of foreign journalists residing in the country rose in the wake of the collapse of the Soeharto regime in 1998 as the nation embarked on a path of democracy. The transition led to Indonesia gaining the accolades of third-largest democracy in the world, largest democracy among Muslim-majority nations and a country that succeeded in simultaneously pushing for democracy and development.

The number of foreign journalists began to dwindle as Indonesia started to lose its appeal as an emerging democracy, but also because the government began to re-impose restrictions on their ability to report, particularly in the last 10 years. The Jakarta Foreign Correspondents Club counts around 20 foreign news media outlets as members, and many of these outlets are represented by Indonesian journalists.

The work of the multitudes of foreign journalists based in Indonesia as well as those flown in from their countries of origin or based in Singapore or Bangkok affect how Indonesia is being portrayed abroad.

The authoritarian Soeharto regime was hostile to foreign journalists and frequently deported them for their ”negative” reporting. In the 1980s, the country banned all Australian journalists because of their reporting of Indonesia’s brutal military occupation of East Timor (now Timor-Leste), which it annexed in 1975. With the suppression of many freedoms and the perpetration of human rights atrocities, Indonesia was portrayed as a pariah state.

Indonesia eased restrictions for foreign journalists in the post-Soeharto era, and although they continued to report on issues such as corruption and religious intolerance, they also reported on the progress Indonesia was making as an emerging market economy and an emerging democracy. The positive more than made up for the negative stories.

Nowadays, the tone of foreign media reporting in Indonesia is changing, given the democratic backsliding over the last 10 years, the shrinking space for civil society, and creeping militarization. Imposing more restrictions on foreign journalists is not helping Indonesia’s image and reputation abroad.