Gov't Reverses Plan to Block WhatsApp, Though Popular Third-Party 'GIF' Images No Longer Accessible
Jakarta. The Ministry of Communication and Information reversed its plan to block messaging service WhatsApp on Wednesday (08/11) and has instead blocked access to third-party services that provide "Graphics Interchange Format," or GIF, images.
The ministry emphasized that it will continue its crackdown against obscene content, previously sending three letters to WhatsApp headquarters requesting they remove pornographic GIFs from use in the country after viral messages spread over the weekend regarding obscene content on the messaging service.
Facebook-owned WhatsApp, along with Tenor and Giphy – the third-party services – responded to the government’s request to remove lewd content available on their services.
"Obscene content [from third parties] are no longer accessible in Indonesia," Semuel A. Pangerapan, the director general of application at the ministry, told reporters at a press conference in Jakarta.
The ministry plans to continue communication with the service providers to "clean up" other content that violates Indonesian law.
"The government is not stopping its efforts here. We will completely block access to pornographic content on the internet," Semuel said.
He encouraged members of the public to take an active role and assist the government’s effort by reporting findings of obscene content to the ministry’s content complaints team.
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