A Juridical Study of Social Media in the Digital Age: The Dilemma between Promotional Needs and Adherence to the Notary Code of Ethics

Social media provides a great opportunity to be used as a means of educating the public widely, quickly and practically. However, this opportunity is a challenge for the notary profession, which is bound by a professional code of ethics that prohibits promotion through social media. This study aims to analyze the reasons why notaries are prohibited from promoting on social media and analyze the dilemma between the need for promotion and adherence to the notary code of ethics in the digital era and its solutions. This research uses a doctrinal approach, specifically the normative juridical method, with descriptive research specifications. The result of this research is that the reasons for the prohibition of promotion by notaries on social media are to maintain the independence of the notary profession, avoid the practice of professional commercialism and protect the reputation of the notary profession. The dilemma between the need for promotion and adherence to the code of ethics in the digital era arises because of the tension between two different interests, namely on the one hand, notaries need a way to introduce and market services but on the other hand, notaries are bound by a code of ethics that prohibits promotion through social media so that the solution is that notaries must take an ethical promotional approach; the Notary Honor Council and the Notary Supervisory Assembly need to increase efforts to socialize the code of ethics in the digital era; and supervision and enforcement of the notary code of ethics consistently.