The Implementation of the Blacklist System in Indonesia Makes it Difficult for the Government to Eradicate Dangerous Content

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Communication and Digital (Komdigi) explained that there are two main approaches that countries in the world use to filter content on the internet, namely the blacklist and whitelist systems.

The Director of Certification and Electronic Transactions Supervision of the Ministry of Communication and Digital, Teguh Arifiyadi, explained that Indonesia itself uses a blacklist approach which is believed to provide more room for freedom of expression.

"This blacklist, the country adheres to the principle that everything on the internet is allowed, except for what is prohibited. The whitelist is all prohibited, except for what is allowed," said Teguh some time ago.

However, unfortunately, both approaches have challenges in monitoring their respective illegal content. The difference between the two systems lies in the basic principle of regulating internet access.

Teguh likened the blacklist system to a pool whose water can come from anywhere. When there is problematic or illegal content, the government will only take or block it after it is found.

Well, according to him, this approach actually makes the process of cleaning illegal content never really complete, especially when the content has already gone viral on the internet.

"It's like the internet is a pool, water can flow from anywhere into the pool. Once it's dirty, it's just swept away. What happens? Is it clean? It won't be clean. Especially if the content is viral," he explained.

Meanwhile, a whitelist system like the one implemented in China, all content is basically prohibited, except for those specifically allowed by the government.

But the weakness is, this system is considered to sacrifice democracy. Because according to him, all internet traffic will enter through one large lane that is filtered first through several layers of surveillance before it can be accessed by the public.

"It's cleaner. No one dares to cheat. If someone tries to cheat through the filter line, the Chinese government can know down to the level of the device. Not just where it is, what the device is, who, where. But what is at stake? Democracy," said Teguh.

Therefore, with the implementation of the blacklist system in Indonesia, the government through Komdigi relies on various methods of supervision, ranging from public reports, cyber patrols, to monitoring systems based on artificial intelligence (AI).

Teguh also said that the government has been using AI technology since 2017 to crawl or automatically search for content that potentially violates the law, such as online gambling, fraud, phishing, and pornography.

Currently, Komdigi also has a cyber patrol team that works 24 hours to monitor digital content.

"He patrols 24 hours. We monitor the content. But again, we patrol in dirty pools, we clean them, then it gets dirty again, it goes on. But if it's not cleaned, it gets much dirtier," he said.

However, he assessed that the debate between the blacklist and whitelist systems was ultimately a policy choice that must consider the balance between digital security, privacy, and people's freedom of expression.