Indonesia blocks Yahoo, PayPal, gaming websites over license violations
Indonesia has blocked search engine website Yahoo, payments firm PayPal and several gaming websites for failure to comply with licensing rules, an official said on Saturday, sparking a backlash across social media.
Registration is required under the rules issued at the end of November 2020 and would give authorities broad powers to compel platforms to disclose certain users’ data, and take down content deemed illegal or ” disturbs public order” within four hours if necessary and within 24 hours if not.
Several tech companies had rushed to register by the deadline, which was extended to Friday, including Alphabet Inc., Meta Platforms Inc.’s Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, and Amazon.com Inc.
Samuel Abrijani Pangerapan, a senior official at Indonesia’s Ministry of Communications, said in a text message that websites that have been blocked include Yahoo, PayPal and gaming sites such as Steam, Dota 2, Counter-Strike and EpicGames.
PayPal, Yahoo’s parent private equity firm Apollo Global Management and US game developer Valve Corporation, which runs Steam, Dota and Counter-Strike, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. EpicGames could not be reached for comment.
Hashtags such as “blokirkominfo” (Block Communication Ministry), Epic Games and PayPal are trending on Indonesian Twitter, with many writing messages praising the government’s move as harming Indonesia’s online gaming industry and freelance workers who use PayPal. are criticizing.
Pangerapan did not respond to a request for comment.
With an estimated 191 million Internet users and a young, social-media savvy population, the Southeast Asian nation is a significant market for a number of technology platforms.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)