Minister Says Indonesian Internet Users Should Be More Productive

Although Internet usage in Indonesia is growing at a great pace, some in the country still see room for improvement. The Minister of Communication and Information Technology, Tifatul Sembiring, is urging people to be more productive during their time surf in cyberspace. During the Indonesia International Communication Expo and Conference in Jakarta, he expressed hope that content developers and site operators could develop higher quality content for the nation to consume.

Tifatul is known to be quite strict in monitoring Internet usage in Indonesia. According to him, Indonesia still more focus on fun and entertainment, and people tend to enjoy social media sites such as Facebook. In the future Tifatul hopes there will be more sites that can educate the public in accordance with state ideology. “Ideally, the technology that we develop in Indonesia should be used to shore up nationalist values,” he said.

This is not the first time that we have seen the Minister dictate what Indonesians should and should not do online. Tifatul has lobbied to filter negative information from the Internet, forcing RIM to filter pornographic content on its BlackBerry handset. Ironically, he has been engaged in some unusual social media activities himself, reportedly quoting Hitler in a Twitter message last year.

But some of his initiatives appear more beneficial. Under his oversight, the Indonesian government recently launched a program aimed at giving internet access to all regions in the country. With this project, Tifatul expects the use of internet could help to enhance people’s lives in a more tangible way, not just as a means of socializing.

via The Jakarta Globe