Indonesia launches a video portal called MeTube and it’s not satire

Major Indonesian media company MNC Group has launched a YouTube clone. It’s called MeTube. No joke.

The site itself looks a lot like its American role model. Many elements are similar, like the logo, video layout, positioning of the comments section, and color scheme.

Content-wise, MeTube is a mix of MNC’s own shows and videos uploaded by partner sites or individual users. The site lets you search for keywords or browse clips in standard categories like comedy, news, fashion, sports, or travel. Some MNC-owned talk shows and comedy series are highlighted on the landing page.

Bumpy launch

Indonesian content creators were not impressed. Film director Joko Anwar and Christian Sugiono, founder of the popular comedy website Malesbanget, both took to Twitter with complaints about the site.

Sugiono said he was disappointed that a MeTube user had uploaded a number of Malesbanget clips without permission.

Anwar pointed out that a simple search on MeTube revealed a number of “sexy” videos. Showing nudity in images and video is considered pornographic, and thus illegal, in Indonesia.

It’s for this reason that video portal Vimeo is blocked in the archipelago. In the eyes of the authorities, it didn’t do enough to remove videos with nude scenes. Anwar raised the question whether the same strict rule would apply to MeTube.

MeTube meanwhile swiftly removed the videos pointed out by Anwar and Sugiono, which indicates the team is monitoring reactions to the launch closely and wants to avoid more public criticism.

Business interests

MeTube’s launch comes at a time when MNC should be worried about its future. MNC’s share price has been tumbling ever since on-demand-video site Netflix launched in Indonesia early this year.

Lame copycat