Legal Protection of Religious and Cultural Symbols from Hate Speech in The Digital Space Era

Authors

  • Yogaraksa Ananta Universitas Islam Negeri Sunan Ampel Surabaya image/svg+xml Author
  • Kenneth Sulthon Alafi Al Hallaj Universitas Islam Negeri Sunan Ampel Surabaya image/svg+xml Author
  • Wahyu Agung Nuril Fahmi Universitas Islam Negeri Sunan Ampel Surabaya image/svg+xml Author
  • Syahrul Ramadhan Al-Mustafa International University image/svg+xml Author
  • Muhammad Dhiya’ulhaq Syahrial Ramadhan Sunan Kalijaga State Islamic University Yogyakarta image/svg+xml Author

Keywords:

Legal Protection, Religious Symbols, Cultural Symbols, Hate Speech, Digital Space

Abstract

The expansion of digital space makes religious and cultural symbols increasingly vulnerable to hate speech on social media. This study examines how adequately the Indonesian legal system protects religious and cultural symbols against digital hate speech and identifies enforcement obstacles. Utilizing a normative juridical method with statutory, conceptual, and comparative approaches, it analyzes Law No. 1/2024 (Second Amendment to the ITE Law), the Criminal Code, Human Rights Law, and international instruments alongside secondary sources. The results indicate that while Indonesia’s normative framework offers multilayered protection notably via Article 28(2) of the ITE Law and Article 156a of the Criminal Code it remains fragmented, overlapping, and ill equipped for borderless, asymmetric digital communication. Furthermore, enforcement faces severe structural obstacles: perpetrator anonymity, jurisdictional limits over transnational platforms, low digital legal literacy, and the absence of clear state platform co-regulatory mechanisms. The study concludes that strengthening legal protection requires doctrinal harmonization, a platform accountability framework, restorative justice oriented enforcement, and ongoing digital literacy programs. These measures are essential to proportionally balance freedom of expression with the protection of collective identity values in the digital sphere.

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Additional Files

Published

2026-08-18

Issue

Vol. 1 No. 02 (2026): August 2026

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Legal Protection of Religious and Cultural Symbols from Hate Speech in The Digital Space Era. (2026). Journal of Law and Governance, 1(02). https://jurnal.haizumsaintek.com/index.php/veritas/article/view/61