Hoax and The Principle of Legal Certainty in Indonesian Legal System

There is no doubt that legal certainty is one of the basic principles in a law-based society. In fact, it can also be said that the principle of legal certainty is often considered synonymous with the rule of law itself. Thus, the principle of legal certainty has reached the character of universality. Problems arise when the principle of legal certainty is confronted in a concrete case. In the case of the spread of HOAX, for example, the principle of legal certainty is more widely used than the principle of legal justice. As a result, at present, many people are subjected to criminal penalties because law enforcers, especially court judges, prioritize legal certainty (as written in the law) rather than applying legal justice. In this case, this article will discuss critically the application of the principle of legal certainty in the Indonesian legal system. In particular, this article highlights the fact that in many cases the spread of deception, judges prioritize the approach of using the principle of legal certainty rather than seeking substantive legal justice from the case.