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JAKARTA: Indonesia has blocked several popular tech websites, including search engine Yahoo and e-payment provider PayPal, an official confirmed Saturday. The sites have been blocked because their parent companies do not comply with the country’s licensing rules.
Since November 2020, technology companies in Indonesia are required to register their platforms with the Ministry of Communications and IT. The licensing rules give authorities the power to order companies to, among other things, remove content or apps that are deemed “unlawful” or “disruptive to public order”.
Major social media platforms, including Meta Platform Inc’s Facebook and WhatsApp, as well as Alphabet Inc’s Google search engine, had rushed just days before the government’s July deadline, after the ministry warned that non-compliance could lead to it. that sites are blocked.
Semuel Abrijani Pangerapan, director general of information and technology at the Ministry of Communications, told Arab News that eight websites had yet to register before the extended July 29 deadline, including Yahoo, PayPal and mainstream gaming sites Steam and Epic Games.
He confirmed that the ministry had blocked those platforms.
“If PayPal sees Indonesia as their market and they care about their consumers, they should have registered,” said Pangerapan.
“We gave them an opportunity they didn’t take. We sent them a letter and they ignored us.”
PaypPal and US game developer Valve Corporation, which operates Steam, Dota and Counter-Strike, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The measures to cut off access are not permanent, the ministry said in a statement, adding that the licensing rules are intended to protect internet users.
The move sparked a backlash on social media, with hashtags such as #BlokirKominfo (block the ministry of communications) trending on Twitter and many Indonesians rebuking the government’s move as damaging to the local online gaming industry and freelancers, many of whom depend on are from PayPal.
“I am disappointed in the government. They said they support the creative industry, which, it turns out, is just nonsense,” Kaito, a creative freelancer from East Java, told Arab News.
Nenden Arum of the digital rights group the Southeast Asia Freedom of Expression Network told Arab News that the ministry’s move to block these platforms is a violation of rights.
“Ideally, any process to block websites should include a trial, but the Department of Communications can do this immediately (because) the platforms have not registered. But we clearly see how it affects and hurts the public,” Arum told Arab News.
“This ordinance harms the public – (it does not take into account) the public interest,” Arum continued.
The world’s fourth most populous country is home to an estimated 191 million social media users, according to Statista, making it a major market for most tech platforms, including Bytedance’s Twitter, Facebook and TikTok. There are also more than 170 million gamers in Indonesia, according to a 2021 report published by the Ministry of Communications.