Telegram application Indonesia threatened with being blocked government, Kominfo given warning
- The Telegram application in Indonesia is threatened with being blocked by the government.
This threat was expressed by the Ministry of Communication and Information (Kemkominfo).
This is because Telegram is considered uncooperative in eradicating online gambling content (judol).
Minister of Communication and Information, Budi Arie Setiadi, also explained that other platforms were cooperative.
The threat of closing Telegram was conveyed in a press conference entitled "Latest Developments in Eradicating Online Gambling", which was held online via YouTube and Zoom, Friday (24/5/2024).
According to the Minister of Communication and Information Budi Arie Setiadi, Telegram is the only digital platform that is not cooperative in eradicating online gambling content.
"Only Telegram is uncooperative. Take note, friends, please write about it in the media. Only Telegram is uncooperative," said Budi.
One platform that is considered cooperative according to the Minister of Communication and Information, Budi Arie, is Google. The government and Google will discuss eradicating online gambling with Kominfo in the following week.
Google is said to have artificial intelligence (AI) technology to track (crawl) online gambling content on their platform.
Budi Arie continued, that currently there is a trend of users doing online gambling on Telegram.
Seeing this, Budi issued a warning to Telegram.
"That's why I'm warning Telegram. If we don't want to cooperate in eradicating online gambling, we will definitely close it," stressed Budi Arie.
Threatens to fine the digital platform IDR 500 million and revoke the ISP's license
Minister of Communication and Information (Menkominfo) Budi Arie Setiadi in a press conference regarding eradicating the problem of online gambling, Friday (24/5/2024).(KOMPAS.com/Mikhaangelo Fabialdi Nurhapy)
Budi Arie threatened digital platforms
"To all managers of digital platforms such as
The Minister of Communication and Information will also revoke the permits of internet service providers (ISPs) if they are not cooperative in eradicating online gambling.
"Secondly, to all internet operators or ISPs, if they are not cooperative in eradicating online gambling, I will not hesitate to revoke your permits, which are used to facilitate online gambling games. We will announce the names of the ISPs," he added.
Budi Arie said that these two policies already have a strong legal basis.
Fines for digital platforms are in accordance with Law Number 11 of 2008 concerning Information and Electronic Transactions, and Government Regulation Number 43 of 2023 concerning Types and Tariffs for Non-Tax State Revenues that Apply to Kominfo.
Then, this policy is also in accordance with Minister of Communication and Information Regulation Number 5 of 2020 concerning the Implementation of Electronic Systems, and Minister of Communication and Information Decree Number 172 of 2024 concerning Guidelines for Implementing PNBP which originate from the Imposition of Administrative Fines for Violations of ComplianceUGC Private Scope PSE Obligations to Terminate Access.
Meanwhile, the policy of revoking ISP permits is carried out in accordance with Law Number 36 of 1999 concerning Telecommunications, Minister of Communication and Information Regulation Number 13 of 2019 concerning the Implementation of Telecommunications Services, and Minister of Communication and Information Regulation Number 5 of 2020 concerning Electronic System OperatorsPrivate and its Amendment Terms.
Regarding ISPs, Budi Arie also asked 1,011 internet service providers in Indonesia to automatically synchronize the list of negative content including online gambling to Kominfo's TrustPositif Domain Name System (DNS).
TrustPositif is a platform for filtering negative content under the control of the Subdirectorate of Internet Content Control, Directorate of Information Application Control, Directorate General of Information Applications, Ministry of Communication and Information.
So far, only 35 percent of ISPs out of a total of 1,011 ISPs have carried out automatic synchronization. As many as 26 out of 135 samples from 2023 to 2024 can still access negative content such as online gambling and pornography.
Therefore, Kominfo imposed sanctions in the form of first warning letters to 26 ISPs and second warning letters to 31 ISPs.
Cut off access to online gambling sites
Budi Arie claims that Kominfo has cut off access to 1,918,520 content containing online gambling from July 17 2023 to May 22 2024.
Then, Kominfo is said to have proposed the closure of 550 digital wallet (e-wallet) accounts to Bank Indonesia during the period 5 October 2023 to 22 May 2024.
Kominfo proposed blocking 5,364 online gambling bank accounts against the Financial Services Authority (OJK) from 17 September 2023 to 22 May 2024.
Takedown, aka reduction, has been carried out on 18,877 gambling page inserts on educational sites, and 22,714 gambling page inserts on government sites from 2023 to May 22 2024.
To make it easier to patrol content, Kominfo updated online gambling keywords, namely 20,241 keywords for Google from 7 November 2023 to 22 May 2024, and 2,702 keywords for Meta from 15 December 2022 to 22 May 2024.