Internet Blocking & Regulation

Government efforts to regulate the internet and block access to porn websites.

Cyber Law
On 25th March a new law on information and electronic transactions (UU Informasi Transaksi Elektronik, ITE) was passed by the parliament in Jakarta. Much of the interest in it focuses on what is forbidden by the law, which is set out in Section 8, Articles 27 to 37.
Article 27:

anyone who deliberately and without rights distributes/transmits/makes accessible electronic information/electronic documents with content that

• violates decency (kesusilaan)
• involves gambling
• is libellous
• is threatening

Article 28 forbids the spreading of lies over the internet (1) and hate speech (2) directed towards particular groups, based on racial, ethnic or religious differences (SARA).
For both articles violations of the law may lead to imprisonment of up to six years and fines up to 1 billion rupiah ($110,000).
Blocking Sites
Muhammad Nuh, the minister for Information, said three methods to block "unhealthy" (pornographic, hateful, violent) sites could be used: [1] [2]

• educate people to avoid them
• provide people with "nanny" software to block them
• restrict the internet access of schools, campuses, offices, etc (involving blocking direct connections from abroad by using a gateway)

These specific measures against porn sites and others are expected to be set out in one or more ministerial edicts, and due to come into effect in April or May. The "nanny" software is already available for download from the Information ministry website.
However he says that the plan to block adult sites is more of a "moral vision" and that the government is limited in what it can do and needs the help of ISP's and internet cafe operators.

If the ISP's and warnets only succeed in restricting access [to inappropriate sites] by about 15-20% then that's okay, the point is we have made an effort to minimalise access.

He said the government intends to make a list of "negative sites" that are meant to be blocked, and that these websites will be those that are pornographic, hateful, or violent. The list will be continually updated and ISP's and warnets informed of any changes. [3]
Previously Nuh had said that the new law was needed now because the government intends to massively increase the proportion of the population with internet access, particularly in villages.
Download and view UU ITE.
Internet Cafe Raids
In Bogor, West Java, policeman Subur Rahardjo says the police will routinely raid warnets, or public internet cafes, looking for people accessing porn web sites.
He says it will be part of a new campaign against social diseases such as prostitution, liquor drinking, and VCD porn films, and done in support of the the Pornography Law (UU Pornografi), and to make sure the situation was conducive for the coming gubernatorial election in West Java. [4]
And in Bojonegoro, East Java, the police and the regency government intend to coordinate efforts to deal with internet cafes that provide folders of pornographic images on their computers. There are said to be 17 warnets in Bojonegoro, and so far one of these has been caught allowing the storing of porn. [5]