Indonesian Government blocks more sites
Last week Information Week and other media sources reported that the Indonesian government sent a letter to YouTube requesting the removal of the Dutch film clip Fitna. The Indonesian government has since requested Indonesian ISPs and government offices to proactively block access to YouTube. A number of ISPs have done so, with other smaller ISP still sitting on the sidelines.
What’s new this week is that in addition to YouTube, the Indonesian government has also taken steps through its partially-owned ISP (PT Telkom) to block access to Multiply.com, MySpace, MetaCafe, RapidShare and LiveLeak. The following is a link to the announcement by PT Telkom about blockage of the additional sites. Speedy is PT Telkom’s branding in the ISP service.
A notice from the Director General of Post and Telecommunications (DitJen PosTel) can be found here, while the letter from the Minister requesting these blockages can be found here.
Needless to say these blockages/filtering have caused an uproar among the Indonesian blogging community, not to mention the traffic in the various Indonesian mailing lists. At the heart of the matter is the interpretation of some sections of the recently issued regulations (Undang -Undang or UU) pertaining to electronic information and transactions (UU ITE). In particular, Sections 27 and 28 cover the specific prohibitions around pornographic material, material causing social unrest and others of negative social impact. The penalty is up to 6 years jail time and a fine of up to $100,000 (which is a lot of money for a nation whose majority of folks live below the poverty line).
