The Minister Of Communication And Information Threatens To 'Brush' X About Pornographic Content, Refuses To Be Regulated By Other Countries

Screenshot of the Minister of Communication and Information Budi Arie Setiadi in a working meeting with Commission I of the DPR RI at the DPR RI Building, Central Jakarta, Monday (10/6/2024). (ANTARA/Livia Kristianti)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Communication and Information (Kemenkominfo) has officially warned social media platform X to follow Indonesian rules regarding pornographic content. The official warning was marked by the steps taken by the Ministry of Communication and Informatics which directly wrote to representatives X who were responsible for the operation of social media in Indonesia. "Regarding the provisions of pornography X, we have written it. But if it is still allowed, later in Indonesia we will close it and block (X)," said Minister of Communication and Information Budi Arie Setiadi in a working meeting with Commission I of the Indonesian House of Representatives, Central Jakarta, as reported by Antara, Monday, June 10. Budi made this statement in response to a question from a member of the Indonesian House of Representatives who questioned the development of platform X in Indonesia after the platform openly allowed users to upload pornographic content in the service. Budi said, if X does not respond or does not follow the rules in force in Indonesia regarding restrictions on pornographic content, the blocking can no longer be avoided by X. "If it's not clear, we'll just brush it, when we set other countries," said Budi. Previously, plans to write to X due to the permission of users to share pornographic content on the platform had been revealed by Deputy Minister of Communication and Information Nezar Patria on Friday (7/6). "We will write to X," said Deputy Minister of Communication and Information, Nezar Patria in Jakarta. Nezar said that the ministry was discussing the implementation of the X policy. The Directorate General of Informatics Applications of the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology discussed the steps to be taken to respond to the implementation of the social media platform policy. According to Nezar, the Ministry of Communication and Information is still considering whether to block access to X as a whole or only block the circulation of content deemed to have violated the rules, given that there is also a lot of positive content uploaded on the social media platform. The X policy that allows users to upload immoral content is known after the platform owned by entrepreneur Elon Musk updated information at the aid center at the end of May 2024. In its aid center, X said that adult content can be uploaded on its platform as long as it is produced and distributed consensually by account owners.

For the account owner who is under 18 years old and does not enter birth data on his profile, X ensures that adult content on his platform cannot be accessed. This is contrary to regulations in Indonesia, the rules regarding the spread of immoral content, among others, are contained in Article 27 paragraph (1) of Law Number 1 of 2024 concerning the Second Amendment to Law Number 11 of 2008 concerning Information and Electronic Transactions (ITE).