Indonesia AI Ethics Circular

Overview

Surat Edaran Menteri Komunikasi dan Informatika Nomor 9 Tahun 2023 tentang Etika Kecerdasan Artifisial is an Indonesian ministerial circular issued in Jakarta on 19 December 2023. It is addressed to AI-based programming business actors under KBLI 62015 and to Electronic System Operators (PSE) in both public and private scopes. The circular establishes an ethics-oriented reference point for consultation, analysis, and programming activities based on artificial intelligence. Its purpose is to guide internal policies on data and AI ethics and to provide values and ethical principles for entities conducting AI-based programming activities.

The instrument responds to growing AI adoption across sectors, including creative industries, health, and education. It frames AI as capable of improving efficiency, innovation, productivity, business processes, and personalised services, while recognising possible social, economic, and defence-related threats. Rather than establishing a licensing, registration, technical-certification, or AI-specific sanction system, the circular provides a general ethical framework. Applicable statutory and regulatory obligations continue to arise under the Indonesian legal framework.

Scope and Covered Activities

The circular applies to business actors conducting AI-based programming activities under Indonesian Standard Industrial Classification (KBLI) code 62015. It also applies to public-scope Electronic System Operators (PSE Lingkup Publik) and private-scope Electronic System Operators (PSE Lingkup Privat). The instrument addresses AI consultation, AI analysis, AI programming, research, product development, marketing, and use of AI.

The technology scope includes machine learning, natural-language processing, expert systems, deep learning, robotics, neural networks, and other AI subsets. The lifecycle framing is broad and is not limited to a final deployed model or consumer-facing service. It encompasses upstream and downstream activities associated with AI-based technology, including the development, use, and dissemination of AI-supported information and innovation.

Definitions

Kecerdasan Artifisial, or Artificial Intelligence, is defined as a form of programming on a computer device that performs careful processing and/or management of data. Penyelenggaraan Kecerdasan Artifisial, or Artificial Intelligence Implementation, means activities connected with AI research, product development, marketing, and use. This definition links ethical expectations to the full range of activities surrounding AI-based programming.

Etika Kecerdasan Artifisial, or Artificial Intelligence Ethics, is the foundation governing ethical principles and norms in AI-based programming. It is grounded in inclusivity, transparency, humanity, and security in the use of available data resources. A Penyelenggara Sistem Elektronik (PSE), or Electronic System Operator, includes persons, state administrators, business entities, and communities that provide, manage, and/or operate electronic systems independently or jointly for themselves and/or another party. A Pelaku Usaha, or Business Actor, is a business actor engaged in AI-based programming activities under KBLI code 62015.

Governance and Institutional Framework

The Minister of Communication and Informatics issued the circular as an ethics guide for covered businesses and PSEs. It places primary operational responsibility on developers, business actors, and system operators rather than creating a new dedicated AI supervisory authority. The Government, operators, and users are to conduct supervision intended to prevent misuse and/or use of AI technology that violates laws and regulations.

The central organisational expectation is that business actors and PSEs make and apply internal company policies concerning data and internal AI ethics. AI activity should be grounded in applicable ethics and codes of ethics. Covered entities should translate the stated values into internal governance arrangements appropriate to their AI consultation, analysis, programming, development, marketing, and use activities. The circular does not prescribe a particular board committee, external audit, registration portal, impact-assessment template, or reporting frequency.

AI Ethics Values

The circular identifies nine values. Inclusivity calls for equality, justice, and peace in producing information and innovation for the common interest. Humanity requires respect for human rights, social relations, beliefs, and every person’s opinions or thoughts. Security concerns the safety of users and of data used, with the aim of protecting privacy, personal data, and Electronic System users’ rights so that no party is harmed. Accessibility requires inclusive, non-discriminatory operation and equal user access, subject to applicable AI ethics principles.

Transparency concerns the data used in developing technological innovation and seeks to avoid data misuse. Business actors and PSEs may give authorised users access to know how data are administered in AI-based technology development. Credibility and accountability require prioritising the capacity to make decisions from generated information or innovation, and require AI-generated information to be reliable and accountable when disseminated publicly.

The remaining values require personal-data protection in accordance with legislation, careful consideration of impacts on humans, the environment, and other living beings, and observance of intellectual-property protection principles. Together, the values apply to the development, management, deployment, and use of AI-based programming.

Implementation Expectations

AI operation should be based on ethics and applicable codes of ethics for business actors and PSEs. The circular characterises AI programming capability as support for human activity and encourages the use of AI facilities to increase users’ creativity in resolving problems and performing work. AI must not be operated as a policy determiner and/or decision-maker in matters concerning humanity.

Developers are expected to conduct AI-related education programmes for society, including technical competency development and study of ethical, humanitarian, and social aspects. This education role is linked to responsibility for supporting the development of Indonesian human resources. Implementation should also include controls that protect privacy and avoid individual harm, measures to prevent misuse, and processes to meet regulatory obligations intended to preserve security and digital users’ rights.

The circular calls for protection of the public, particularly in relation to data use; prevention of racism and all actions harmful to people; and use of AI to improve innovation and problem-solving capacity. Developers should provide information related to AI technology development to prevent negative effects and losses for users, the Ministry, and/or the public.

Privacy, Rights, and Human-Centred Use

AI implementation should protect the privacy, personal data, and rights of Electronic System users in accordance with applicable laws. Security is treated as an ethical value connected both to the safety of users and to the protection of data used in AI operations. The circular links privacy, personal-data protection, and user rights to the prevention of harm arising from AI-based technology.

The humanity and accessibility values require respect for human rights, social relations, beliefs, opinions, and thoughts. Covered entities are expected to prevent racism and other actions harmful to people while providing non-discriminatory access to AI-based technology. The human-centred limitation on AI use is explicit: AI may support human activities, but it must not function as a policy determiner or decision-maker in matters concerning humanity.

Risk Management and Monitoring

AI developers and operators should consider risk management and crisis management in AI development. Internal evaluation can assess whether policies and practices reflect the nine values; whether users and data are protected; whether public-facing AI-generated information is trustworthy and accountable; and whether development teams have considered human, environmental, and intellectual-property impacts.

The circular’s monitoring model is collaborative rather than a detailed compliance-inspection regime. Government, operators, and users are each identified as participants in supervision designed to prevent unlawful misuse or exploitation of AI technology. This shared model links ethical implementation to existing legal requirements, especially where AI use may affect privacy, data protection, security, user rights, discrimination, or other regulated interests.

The instrument does not establish mandatory incident-reporting deadlines, prescribed performance indicators, periodic reporting to the Ministry, or a formal conformity-assessment procedure. It nevertheless expects developers to communicate development-related information where necessary to prevent negative effects and losses for users, the Ministry, and/or the public.

Penalties and Relationship to Other Instruments

The circular does not specify administrative fines, criminal penalties, civil compensation mechanisms, licence suspension, product recalls, or an appeals process. It is framed as ethical guidance and does not itself create a dedicated AI enforcement or adjudication pathway. Legal consequences for conduct that breaches binding Indonesian law arise under the relevant underlying instrument rather than under a penalty schedule in this circular.

The circular expressly connects to Minister of Communication and Informatics Regulation No. 3 of 2021 on business activity and product standards in risk-based licensing for the postal, telecommunications, electronic systems, and electronic transactions sectors. That regulation is identified as governing the business standard for AI-based programming activity under KBLI 62015. The circular notes a requirement under that framework for business actors and PSEs to make and apply internal company policies concerning data and internal AI ethics.

Its legal basis includes Law No. 11 of 2008 on Information and Electronic Transactions as amended by Law No. 19 of 2016; Law No. 6 of 2023 concerning Job Creation; Law No. 27 of 2022 on Personal Data Protection; Government Regulation No. 71 of 2019 on Electronic Systems and Transactions; Government Regulation No. 5 of 2021 on Risk-Based Business Licensing; and PSE regulations. The circular operates as an ethics layer alongside binding data-protection, electronic-system, and business-licensing rules.

International Alignment

The instrument uses principles familiar in international AI-governance discussions, including inclusivity, non-discrimination, human rights, privacy, transparency, accountability, safety, sustainability, and intellectual-property protection. Its concern with preventing harmful outcomes, protecting users, supporting human activity, and considering social and environmental impacts gives the guidance a broad responsible-AI orientation.

The circular does not incorporate a named international standard, treaty, foreign legal regime, mutual-recognition mechanism, or cross-border AI compliance process. It does not create international cooperation duties or impose requirements modelled as a risk classification, mandatory technical documentation, external conformity assessment, or model-evaluation regime. Its international relevance is principles-based, aligning Indonesian AI ethics guidance with widely used responsible-AI themes while retaining Indonesian definitions, covered entities, and domestic legal references.

Implementation Timeline

Compliance Checklist

Sources and References