Do You Like "Spilling Tea" on Social Media? Here's What You Can Spill, Legally!

Are you an active Twitter user? If you are, then I bet you're already familiar with the "spill the tea" term. Recently, this term has gotten a lot of attention and has become famous.

This is because there are a bunch of people "spilling" other people's "tea". For those of you who are still confused with the meaning of it, you can see it as someone sharing other people's badness.

If we glimpse it, it seems like it's an illegal thing to do and against the law, for sure. Especially Law Number 19 of 2016 concerning Information and Electronic Transactions and its amendments. But do you know that there is some kind of information that you can spill without breaking any law?

Spill the Tea? What's That?

In the original Urban Dictionary definition, the phrase "spill the tea" is defined as "gossip or personal information belonging to someone else; the scoop; the news."

The phrase is most commonly used for gossip and to claim that your news is the most exciting. With tweets using the phrases "Give me the tea," "where's the tea," and "spill that tea," Twitter has developed into a particularly fertile breeding environment for tea.

The phrase predates the twenty-first century by a very wide margin. Many people subscribe to the popular origin story that claims women in the 18th and early 19th centuries would sip tea while giggling on their front porches. 

However, this origin hypothesis has very little to do with tea. Merriam-Webster claims that although the expression has little to do with the drink itself, it was first used in drag culture.

So in general, we can say that spilling the tea is spreading other people's ugliness, using a variety of media, like social media.

Spill the Tea and Defamation on Social Media

We all know that if we defame others, we can get reported, especially on social media. If we do that on social media like Twitter, we can get reported by people who feel harmed. 

Article 27 paragraph (3) of Law Number 11 of 2008 Concerning Information and Electronic Transactions (UU ITE) may apply to defamation on the internet or, in this case, through social media: 

Setiap Orang dengan sengaja, dan tanpa hak mendistribusikan dan/atau mentransmisikan dan/atau membuat dapat diaksesnya Informasi Elektronik dan/atau Dokumen Elektronik yang memiliki muatan penghinaan dan/atau pencemaran nama baik.

 

Those who commit defamation face a potential sentence of 4 years in prison and/or a maximum fine of Rp. 750 million.

The Exception: You Can Spill This Information!

However, there are rules that must be taken into account when implementing Article 27 Paragraph 3 of the ITE Law. According to Joint Decree of the Minister of Communication and Information Technology, the Attorney General, and the Head of the State Police of the Republic of Indonesia Number 219, 154, and KB/2/VI/2021 of 2021 concerning Guidelines for the Implementation of Certain Articles in Law Number 11 of 2008 concerning Information and Transactions Electronic (SKB UU ITE) here's what you have to look deeper into before using and applying Article 27 of ITE Law:

 

Defamation = Article 310 and Article 311 of the Criminal Code (KUHP).

The Criminal Code's (KUHP) Articles 310 and 311 are referenced in insults and/or defamation and cannot be separated from them. 

 

According to Article 310 of the Criminal Code, it is illegal to undermine someone's honor by claiming that something is publicly known. Article 311 of the Criminal Code, on the other hand, deals with accusing someone of something when the accuser is aware that the accusation is false.

 

Things You Can Spill

If the content is expressed as an assessment, opinion, evaluation, or fact, it does not violate the terms of Article 27 paragraph 3 of the ITE Law's prohibition on insults and/or defamation.

 

You Have to Report It All by Yourself

The ITE Law's Article 27 Paragraph 3 defines the criminal offense as an absolute complaint offense, which means that unless the victim is still a minor or under guardianship, they must personally report the incident to the police.

 

Additionally, the victim must be a real person with a distinct identity rather than an organization, or business.

 

It Has to be Publicly Known 

The focus of the punishment under Article 27 paragraph (3) of the ITE Law is on the behavior of the perpetrators who knowingly distribute, transmit, or make accessible information charged with attacking someone's honor by alleging something to be known to the public, which can take the form of uploads to social media accounts with public access settings.