Ministry Of Communication And Information Asks YouTube To Block Jozeph Paul Zhang

Shindy Paul Soerjomoeljono or known as Joseph Paul Zhang on his YouTube channel. (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Communication and Informatics sent a letter on YouTube to block Paul Zhang's account because it contained hate speech.

"On April 19, 2021, the seven contents on YouTube have been blocked and can no longer be accessed by netizens", said Spokesman Dedy Permadi quoted by Antara, Tuesday, April 20.

The Ministry of Communication and Informatics sent a block request to YouTube for seven pieces of content, including the controversial one entitled "Puasa Lalim Islam".

Paul Zhang's action fulfills the violation of Law Number 11 of 2008 concerning Electronic Information and Transactions as amended by Law Number 19 of 2016 Article 28 Paragraph (2) in conjunction with Article 45A.

The article states that everyone who deliberately and without rights disseminates information aimed at creating hatred or enmity for certain individuals and/or groups of society based on ethnicity, religion, race, and intergroup (SARA) shall be punished with imprisonment of up to 6 years and/or a maximum fine of IDR1 billion.

The latest information from the Directorate General of Immigration at the Ministry of Law and Human Rights says that Joseph Paul Zhang, or whose real name is Shindy Paul Soerjomoeljono, has been outside Indonesia since 2018.

He was recorded as leaving Indonesia for Hong Kong that year.

Seeing this situation, Dedy stated that the ITE Law has an extraterritorial principle, which applies to anyone who commits legal actions, whether within the jurisdiction of Indonesia or outside the jurisdiction of Indonesia.

This law also applies if the act has legal consequences within the jurisdiction of Indonesia and/or outside the jurisdiction of Indonesia, and is detrimental to the interests of Indonesia.

After Paul Zhang's content was blocked, the Ministry of Communication and Information continued to carry out cyber patrols for content containing hate speech from Paul Zhang.

The ministry will ask the platform again to block if there is still Paul Zhan's content.

The ministry asks the public to remain calm and maintain peace in both physical and digital spaces, and to report to aduankonten.id if they find content that violates the law.