Indonesia Declines to Block Google, YouTube Amid Vice Concerns

The Indonesian government has rejected a call by a Muslim intellectual to block Google and YouTube within the country due to pornographic and violent content.

“Indonesia guarantees freedom of information, unlike China. Maybe they would block it there. It’s like trying to kill a mouse by burning the whole house,” Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) spokesman Ismail Cawidu told BenarNews in Jakarta on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, Indonesian Muslim Intellectuals Association (ICMI) Secretary General Jafar Hafsah issued a statement saying that Google and YouTube spread pornographic and violent content.

“If YouTube and Google refuse to control their sites, they deserve to be blocked. [P]ornographic and violent content is on their sites,” he said in a press statement.

But ICMI Chairman Jimly Asshiddiqie said that Jafar’s statement was personal and did not reflect an official view of ICMI.

Jimly emphasized that Indonesians should not be anti-technology, and that YouTube and Google have contributed greatly to society.

“We as a nation can no longer prohibit the development of technology. We cannot imitate China,” he said.

His point was echoed by the ICMI deputy Ilham Habibie, even though he conceded that violent and pornographic content could be accessed through the two social media platforms, he said.

“The benefits of Google and YouTube are greater than the harm. Lots of great content can be obtained from the two sites,” he said.

“An initiative called Project Trust Positive is ongoing where a lot of pornographic and violent website content has been successfully blocked in Indonesia,” he explained.

Ilham said the best way to tackle the negative effects of the internet is to keep educating people on its benefits and harms.

“We’re heading into a country and an economy based on knowledge and innovation, where it requires people with an appropriate level of education,” he said.

‘Flag’ bad content

Meanwhile the head of corporate communications for Google in Indonesia, said that YouTube, which is owned by Google, had a policy of complying with Indonesian regulations to do with sexual content and age-restricted content.

“You can see it at the YouTube Policy Center and Community Guidelines,” Jason Tedjasukmana told BenarNews.

Data from the ICT ministry shows that the government has blocked 750,000 links to pornographic content and about 153,000 free porn sites.

Ismail said that while the government continued to block pornographic and violent sites, users keep producing such content.

“Parents have a role in monitoring their children to choose safe sites, using safe search or select kids.youtube.com,” he said.

Onno Purbo, an information and technology expert at the Bandung Institute of Technology, said it was almost impossible to force YouTube and Google to block their content.

“Google and YouTube came from the United States where they keep the Internet open and free,” he told BenarNews. He pointed out that YouTube has a “flag” option where Internet users can object to content.

“So if there are materials you do not like, you can flag them. When material gets lots of flags, it is blocked by YouTube itself,” he said.