Legal Protection for Consumers from Defamation Crimes Due to Product Reviews on Social Media

Abstract

The spread of social media that is currently widely used by the public is one sign of the existence of the internet as a modern communication and information media. Currently, social media is not only used as a means of communication by the public, but more than that, social media is currently used as a place for economic activities such as trading or selling online, and the public can provide reviews of goods or services that have been obtained. The consequences of these reviews have the potential to violate the criminal act of defamation. For consumers who like to review a product or service on social media, this will certainly be like a nightmare for them, because business actors do not hesitate to threaten consumers with the provisions of Article 27 paragraph (3) of Law Number 19 of 2016 concerning Information and Electronic Transactions regarding the accessibility of content that smells of insults or defamation on social media. Reviewing a product or service is included in the right to be heard for a positive or negative opinion on the goods and/or services used, as regulated in Law Number 8 of 1999 concerning Consumer Protection. Legally, consumer activities that review a product are certainly permitted and do not conflict with regulations considering that the person concerned is a consumer who purchases the product and then reviews the product that was purchased.