Nadine Freischlad · · 2 min readDays after launch, Indonesia considers blocking Netflix
Insurmountable roadblocks. Photo credit: Doug Geisler
US video streaming service Netflix last week launched in 130 countries across the globe, to great fanfare. Indonesia was one of them, and to a great extent the archipelago’s population seemed to applaud its arrival.
Popular Indonesian film maker Joko Anwar was one of many to express joy upon Netflix’ arrival to the archipelago
However, Indonesia also has strict censorship rules. Scenes showing nudity, gambling, or which could provoke religious or ethnically motivated violence are prohibited. Indonesia’s film censorship board, LSF, has apparently decided that the Indonesian people are not mature enough to be exposed to Netflix’s content. It’s now calling on the nation’s tech ministry to block the service.
The tech ministry, however, isn’t jumping to rash decisions. A spokesperson of the ministry told Tech in Asia today that it is has yet to receive a formal assessment from the LSF. The tech ministry is currently coordinating with relevant institutions, including the ministry of education, the Indonesian broadcasting commission, the telecommunications regulatory body, as well as the LSF, to come to a conclusion about how and if Netflix needs to be regulated.
Top-down censorship via blocking access to an entire site is a looming possibility. It’s happened in Indonesia before. The video hosting service Vimeo as well as user generated content site Reddit are blocked in Indonesia because some of its content violates Indonesia’s censorship regulations.
YouTube, on the other hand, remains available. Via its parent company Google, YouTube has a representative office in Indonesia and cooperates with the government on specific censorship requests. Vimeo and Reddit do not. The current tech minister’s attempts to negotiate with Vimeo have apparently not yielded any results.
It’s possible Netflix could get blocked in Indonesia in its entirety if it refuses to comply with local content sensitivities. But it’s not likely. Netflix has already stated it’s willing to compromise on content in order to be able to stream across a variety of countries. We may see a few shows and movies disappear from Netflix’s already limited library in Indonesia. Better watch Orange is the New Black before it’s too late.
Editing by Malavika Velayanikal and J.T. Quigley, featured image: Doug Geisler
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