Which tech regulations in Indonesia should the government amend? (#StartupAsia preview)

With a new president in charge comes new hope. For Indonesia’s tech industry, that face of new hope comes in the form of new Information and Communications Technology (ICT) minister Rudiantara (pictured right). Already consistently engaging tech players in the country, Rudiantara so far looks more open to receiving feedback than his predecessor. However, it’s still early days to say that Rudiantara is going to be a better successor to the ICT minister throne, because in the end, what matters is results.

One of Rudiantara’s first big projects involves Vimeo. The government controversially banned the video platform back in May because some clips contain nudity. Wanting to lift the ban, the new minister has initiated communication with Vimeo CEO Kerry Trainor, asking the latter to block explicit content inside its platform for Indonesian users. The discussion is still ongoing, but it looks clear that Rudiantara is going to continue his predecessor’s legacy to block all things pornographic on Indonesia’s internet.

“Over my dead body,” says the minister when asked about his view on pornography in Indonesia. He argues that Indonesian citizens may not be ready to consume such content, and that’s why the government must intervene to ensure citizens only get positive content from the net. Currently, photo sharing site Imgur and online forum Reddit are also blocked in the archipelago.

However, Indonesia’s issue over net censorship goes beyond just those three websites. First, a group of local NGOs have officially appealed the Ministrial Decree No. 19/2014 to the constitutional court because while it regulates how the government can block websites containing negative content, the decree fails to clearly define the term “negative content”. This could lead to misuse on the government’s side, which so far has blocked over 745,000 sites deemed to host pornographic material.

Second, there’s also the case with 2008’s electronic information and transaction (ITE) law. Article 27 (3) stipulates criminal punishment for anyone who engages in online defamation or intimidation via electronic information. The law is problematic is several ways, mainly because it lets you accuse someone who makes you feel “scared” or “insulted” – which is very subjective – and any citizen can potentially become a criminal just by ranting online.

The broadly defined internet censorship together with the ITE law have the potential to curb freedom of expression in Indonesia, a freedom that should’ve been guaranteed by the constitution. These are some of the challenges Rudiantara needs to tackle during his reign over the next five years. There are still many other issues yet to be tackled, like intrusive ads practiced by a couple of telcos and the government’s role over blocking discriminatory sites.

See: How Indonesia’s problematic internet law will impede freedom of expression

At Startup Asia Jakarta on November 27, I will be interviewing Rudiantara regarding his plans on internet censorship. We will also discuss on how he plans to alleviate netizens’ concerns regarding online freedom and among other things, his philosophy and vision for Indonesia’s tech ecosystem.

Have a question to ask to Rudiantara? You can add them to the Google form below. We will select some of them to be asked to the newly appointed ICT minister.