News
Indonesia Attempts To Calm Tourists’ Concerns Over New Sex-Outside-Marriage Law

(CTN NEWS) – JAKARTA – Authorities in Indonesia are attempting to assuage tourists’ concerns on new laws that criminalise sex that does not occur during marriage or cohabitation and restore confidence in the country’s tourism industry.
According to the Law Ministry, the country’s updated laws will stop law enforcement from conducting routine raids to stop the illicit sexual activity that the same criminal code outlaws.
According to Indonesia’s Edward Omar Sharif Hiariej, the deputy minister of law and human rights, “there are criteria, there are parameters, and there are metrics for translating these articles.”
"Travelers will not be charged under this article," says Edward Omar Sharif Hiariej, Indonesia's deputy minister for law and human rights re the new criminal code banning sex outside marriage https://t.co/2xGBpNvcTn
— Max Walden (@maxwalden_) December 12, 2022
“The criminal code has rules that classify these (articles) as complaints-based offences, so we also issue a warning to civil service police units that enforce local laws not to conduct sweeping raids, etc.,” he continued.

Image Credit: GOOGLE
BALI PROMISES TO PROTECT TRAVELERS’ PRIVACY
One day after the bill was passed, Bali, Indonesia’s top tourist destination, promised to protect privacy in media remarks in response to travellers’ worries.
The well-known resort island emphasized that visitors would be safe and that no accommodations for travelers would inquire about their marital status.
The Bali authorities also called foreign consuls, who requested them to inform their citizens.
According to Mr. Tjokorda Bagus Pemayun, the director of the Bali Tourism Agency, “We have requested to make clear to their countrymen that there is no reason to worry about visiting Bali.” First and foremost, “This law assures who may report someone.”
Adultery is already against the law in the nation’s current laws; therefore, anyone could submit a complaint against offenders prior to the updated code.
The prohibition on sex outside of marriage will be extended to everyone, even those not married, when the new rules take effect in roughly three years.
However, only the offender’s spouse, parents, and children can contact the police.

Image Credit: GOOGLE
SOCIAL MEDIA COMMENTS
Since the measure was approved by parliament on December 6, social media has been flooded with comments, and international media outlets have covered the new code extensively.
The laws will apply to ex-pats already living there and foreign tourists traveling to Indonesia.
On Twitter, @harrydavisonNZ tweeted, “Say farewell to your thriving tourism sector; visiting numbers are likely to drop like flies.”
https://twitter.com/harrydavisonNZ/status/1600074869651087360
@HamletBueno questioned, “Should I postpone my trip to Bali?”
@itstonz tweeted, “Here’s another reason I’d prefer not go to Bali/Indonesia,” along with a link to a New Zealand news item about the country’s new rules outlawing extramarital sex.
Premarital sex is punishable by up to a year in jail or a fine of 10 million rupiahs ($640). Cohabitation can result in a fine of 10 million rupiah or a six-month prison sentence.

Image Credit: GOOGLE
SOCIAL TASK FORCE OF THE GOVERNMENT
The contentious sex and cohabitation laws are just a small portion of the lengthy criminal code.
Among other measures, the updated articles will update blasphemy offenses, restrict the ability to protest and make it illegal to criticize the president.
According to the Indonesian parliament, a task group will be established to better inform the people about the new regulations.
According to Albert Aries, spokesman for the socialization team for the new criminal law, “The penal code, or criminal code, is the most faithful mirror of our civilization, so when you come to Indonesia, there are values that need to be honored.”
When drafting the measure, the authorities, according to Mr. Hiariej, were in a difficult position and tried to strike a compromise between the demands of various groups living in the nation.
In other provinces, including the predominantly Muslim West Sumatra, stronger regulations have been sought for conduct that was thought immoral and against Islamic principles.
For instance, they desired cohabitation that went beyond just complaint-based behaviour.

Image Credit: GOOGLE
WORRIES IN THE TOURISM INDUSTRY
Tour operators reported that they have already been contacted by various foreign travel agencies enquiring about the procedure for their clients who wish to visit Indonesia.
The new sex and cohabitation restrictions have not been made clear by the authorities, and it is unclear whether married couples will need to enter the nation with valid marriage papers.
However, the Association of Indonesian Tours and Travel Agencies stated that it is still too early to determine the impact on businesses.
“There were a few cancellations, but we’re unsure if they had anything to do with the criminal code. Therefore, it is too early to assess, said Mr. Budijanto Ardiansjah, deputy chairman of the group.
"Kami tidak mungkin memberikan jaminan kepada wisatawan akan aman-aman saja. Karena ini adalah merupakan produk hukum yang diatur oleh undang-undang," kata SekjenPHRI Maulana Yusran.#KUHP #Pariwisatahttps://t.co/C8ztmXkVgX
— KBR (@beritaKBR) December 13, 2022
I’m worried that this would turn into a “poor campaign” or “bad promotion” for Indonesian tourism, he added, adding that it is important to respond to critiques constructively.
Other industry participants argued that if the government wants to prevent unfavorable perceptions from overshadowing Indonesia’s post-COVID-19 rebound, it must act quickly.
The Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association’s secretary-general, Mr. Maulana Yusran, stated that:
the tourism industry “needs comfort, security, and maintaining positive storylines to prevent bad narratives from impacting visitor visits.”
Since the beginning of this year, according to official data, there has been a consistent monthly rise in the number of international visitors to Bali, as the pandemic’s effects begin to wear off.
Prior to the announcement of the criminal code, authorities had set a target of more than 7 million international travelers arriving in Indonesia in 2019.
Indonesia’s tourism minister assured worries that the nation would adhere to its 7 million targets.
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Google’s Search Dominance Is Unwinding, But Still Accounting 48% Search Revenue

Google is so closely associated with its key product that its name is a verb that signifies “search.” However, Google’s dominance in that sector is dwindling.
According to eMarketer, Google will lose control of the US search industry for the first time in decades next year.
Google will remain the dominant search player, accounting for 48% of American search advertising revenue. And, remarkably, Google is still increasing its sales in the field, despite being the dominating player in search since the early days of the George W. Bush administration. However, Amazon is growing at a quicker rate.
Google’s Search Dominance Is Unwinding
Amazon will hold over a quarter of US search ad dollars next year, rising to 27% by 2026, while Google will fall even more, according to eMarketer.
The Wall Street Journal was first to report on the forecast.
Lest you think you’ll have to switch to Bing or Yahoo, this isn’t the end of Google or anything really near.
Google is the fourth-most valued public firm in the world. Its market worth is $2.1 trillion, trailing just Apple, Microsoft, and the AI chip darling Nvidia. It also maintains its dominance in other industries, such as display advertisements, where it dominates alongside Facebook’s parent firm Meta, and video ads on YouTube.
To put those “other” firms in context, each is worth more than Delta Air Lines’ total market value. So, yeah, Google is not going anywhere.
Nonetheless, Google faces numerous dangers to its operations, particularly from antitrust regulators.
On Monday, a federal judge in San Francisco ruled that Google must open up its Google Play Store to competitors, dealing a significant blow to the firm in its long-running battle with Fortnite creator Epic Games. Google announced that it would appeal the verdict.
In August, a federal judge ruled that Google has an illegal monopoly on search. That verdict could lead to the dissolution of the company’s search operation. Another antitrust lawsuit filed last month accuses Google of abusing its dominance in the online advertising business.
Meanwhile, European regulators have compelled Google to follow tough new standards, which have resulted in multiple $1 billion-plus fines.

Pixa Bay
Google’s Search Dominance Is Unwinding
On top of that, the marketplace is becoming more difficult on its own.
TikTok, the fastest-growing social network, is expanding into the search market. And Amazon has accomplished something few other digital titans have done to date: it has established a habit.
When you want to buy anything, you usually go to Amazon, not Google. Amazon then buys adverts to push companies’ products to the top of your search results, increasing sales and earning Amazon a greater portion of the revenue. According to eMarketer, it is expected to generate $27.8 billion in search revenue in the United States next year, trailing only Google’s $62.9 billion total.
And then there’s AI, the technology that (supposedly) will change everything.
Why search in stilted language for “kendall jenner why bad bunny breakup” or “police moving violation driver rights no stop sign” when you can just ask OpenAI’s ChatGPT, “What’s going on with Kendall Jenner and Bad Bunny?” in “I need help fighting a moving violation involving a stop sign that wasn’t visible.” Google is working on exactly this technology with its Gemini product, but its success is far from guaranteed, especially with Apple collaborating with OpenAI and other businesses rapidly joining the market.
A Google spokeswoman referred to a blog post from last week in which the company unveiled ads in its AI overviews (the AI-generated text that appears at the top of search results). It’s Google’s way of expressing its ability to profit on a changing marketplace while retaining its business, even as its consumers steadily transition to ask-and-answer AI and away from search.
Google has long used a single catchphrase to defend itself against opponents who claim it is a monopoly abusing its power: competition is only a click away. Until recently, that seemed comically obtuse. Really? We are going to switch to Bing? Or Duck Duck Go? Give me a break.
But today, it feels more like reality.
Google is in no danger of disappearing. However, every highly dominating company faces some type of reckoning over time. GE, a Dow mainstay for more than a century, was broken up last year and is now a shell of its previous dominance. Sears declared bankruptcy in 2022 and is virtually out of business. US Steel, long the foundation of American manufacturing, is attempting to sell itself to a Japanese corporation.
SOURCE | CNN
News
2024 | Supreme Court Won’t Hear Appeal From Elon Musk’s X Platform Over Warrant In Trump Case

Washington — Trump Media, The Supreme Court announced Monday that it will not hear an appeal from social media platform X about a search warrant acquired by prosecutors in the election meddling case against former President Donald Trump.
The justices did not explain their rationale, and there were no recorded dissents.
The firm, which was known as Twitter before being purchased by billionaire Elon Musk, claims a nondisclosure order that prevented it from informing Trump about the warrant obtained by special counsel Jack Smith’s team violated its First Amendment rights.
The business also claims Trump should have had an opportunity to exercise executive privilege. If not reined in, the government may employ similar tactics to intercept additional privileged communications, their lawyers contended.
Supreme Court Won’t Hear Appeal From Elon Musk’s X Platform Over Warrant In Trump Case
Two neutral electronic privacy groups also joined in, urging the high court to hear the case on First Amendment grounds.
Prosecutors, however, claim that the corporation never shown that Trump utilized the account for official purposes, therefore executive privilege is not a problem. A lower court also determined that informing Trump could have compromised the current probe.
Trump utilized his Twitter account in the weeks preceding up to his supporters’ attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, to spread false assertions about the election, which prosecutors claim were intended to create doubt in the democratic process.
The indictment describes how Trump used his Twitter account to encourage his followers to travel to Washington on Jan. 6, pressuring Vice President Mike Pence to reject the certification, and falsely claiming that the Capitol crowd, which battered police officers and destroyed glass, was peaceful.
Supreme Court Won’t Hear Appeal From Elon Musk’s X Platform Over Warrant In Trump Case
That case is now moving forward following the Supreme Court’s verdict in July, which granted Trump full immunity from criminal prosecution as a former president.
The warrant arrived at Twitter amid quick changes implemented by Musk, who bought the company in 2022 and has since cut off most of its workforce, including those dedicated to combating disinformation and hate speech.
SOURCE | AP
News
The Supreme Court Turns Down Biden’s Government Appeal in a Texas Emergency Abortion Matter.

(VOR News) – A ruling that prohibits emergency abortions that contravene the Supreme Court law in the state of Texas, which has one of the most stringent abortion restrictions in the country, has been upheld by the Supreme Court of the United States. The United States Supreme Court upheld this decision.
The justices did not provide any specifics regarding the underlying reasons for their decision to uphold an order from a lower court that declared hospitals cannot be legally obligated to administer abortions if doing so would violate the law in the state of Texas.
Institutions are not required to perform abortions, as stipulated in the decree. The common populace did not investigate any opposing viewpoints. The decision was made just weeks before a presidential election that brought abortion to the forefront of the political agenda.
This decision follows the 2022 Supreme Court ruling that ended abortion nationwide.
In response to a request from the administration of Vice President Joe Biden to overturn the lower court’s decision, the justices expressed their disapproval.
The government contends that hospitals are obligated to perform abortions in compliance with federal legislation when the health or life of an expectant patient is in an exceedingly precarious condition.
This is the case in regions where the procedure is prohibited. The difficulty hospitals in Texas and other states are experiencing in determining whether or not routine care could be in violation of stringent state laws that prohibit abortion has resulted in an increase in the number of complaints concerning pregnant women who are experiencing medical distress being turned away from emergency rooms.
The administration cited the Supreme Court’s ruling in a case that bore a striking resemblance to the one that was presented to it in Idaho at the beginning of the year. The justices took a limited decision in that case to allow the continuation of emergency abortions without interruption while a lawsuit was still being heard.
In contrast, Texas has been a vocal proponent of the injunction’s continued enforcement. Texas has argued that its circumstances are distinct from those of Idaho, as the state does have an exemption for situations that pose a significant hazard to the health of an expectant patient.
According to the state, the discrepancy is the result of this exemption. The state of Idaho had a provision that safeguarded a woman’s life when the issue was first broached; however, it did not include protection for her health.
Certified medical practitioners are not obligated to wait until a woman’s life is in imminent peril before they are legally permitted to perform an abortion, as determined by the state supreme court.
The state of Texas highlighted this to the Supreme Court.
Nevertheless, medical professionals have criticized the Texas statute as being perilously ambiguous, and a medical board has declined to provide a list of all the disorders that are eligible for an exception. Furthermore, the statute has been criticized for its hazardous ambiguity.
For an extended period, termination of pregnancies has been a standard procedure in medical treatment for individuals who have been experiencing significant issues. It is implemented in this manner to prevent catastrophic outcomes, such as sepsis, organ failure, and other severe scenarios.
Nevertheless, medical professionals and hospitals in Texas and other states with strict abortion laws have noted that it is uncertain whether or not these terminations could be in violation of abortion prohibitions that include the possibility of a prison sentence. This is the case in regions where abortion prohibitions are exceedingly restrictive.
Following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, which resulted in restrictions on the rights of women to have abortions in several Republican-ruled states, the Texas case was revisited in 2022.
As per the orders that were disclosed by the administration of Vice President Joe Biden, hospitals are still required to provide abortions in cases that are classified as dire emergency.
As stipulated in a piece of health care legislation, the majority of hospitals are obligated to provide medical assistance to patients who are experiencing medical distress. This is in accordance with the law.
The state of Texas maintained that hospitals should not be obligated to provide abortions throughout the litigation, as doing so would violate the state’s constitutional prohibition on abortions. In its January judgment, the 5th United States Circuit Court of Appeals concurred with the state and acknowledged that the administration had exceeded its authority.
SOURCE: AP
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