Tumblr next in Indonesia blocking spree (Update: tech minister cancels decision)

Photo credit: Photography at the Speed of Life

(Update Feb/18/2016: In reaction to protests from civil rights groups and netizens, Indonesia’s tech ministry yesterday took back the decision to block Tumblr. Ismael Cawidu, head of PR at the tech ministry, reportedly said the ministry would instead reach out to Yahoo (who owns Tumblr). The goal is to find on a solution that limits access to individual Tumblr sites that contain pornography. The title of the story was changed to reflect this important update.)

In a new wave of censorship intended to keep the Indonesian public safe from pornography, Tumblr will be the next major web service to disappear.

The blogging portal is one of 477 sites the Indonesian tech ministry wants to block. Azhar Hasyim, a ministry spokesperson, said local internet service providers (ISP) have been informed about the decision but that it might take another two to three days for the block to take effect.

At the time of this writing, Tumblr is still available via mobile phone carrier Telkomsel’s connection.

Worrying development

Indonesia used to fare better than neighbors like Thailand and Vietnam in terms of internet freedom. It’s still a far cry from China in the sense that there’s no firewall systematically keeping out major services like Google, Twitter and Facebook.

But the internet is starting to shrink in Indonesia. Over the years, Indonesian web users have lost the right to access any type of content on Vimeo, Reddit, and Imgur, among many other, smaller sites. Blocking these widely used portals interferes with everyday browsing habits, not just those intent on finding porn.

More recently, Netflix was blocked by a major ISP, without the mandate of the tech ministry. The ISP said adult content was one of the reasons for its decision to block the site, as well as lacking business permits.

Japanese messaging app Line also got into a controversy for offering pro-gay illustrations in its sticker store. It agreed to remove the stickers from the store for Indonesian users.

Now Tumblr is next. The site is widely used among Indonesian bloggers. During the 2014 elections, a popular Tumblr called C1 Yang Aneh helped identify fraudulent ballot papers.