Communications and Information (Kominfo) Minister Rudiantara has allayed concerns that the government would once again limit social media use during times of high political tension, specifically this month while the Constitutional Court (MK) adjudicates a lawsuit by failed presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto that seeks to overturn the results of the election.
During the post-election protests and violent riots that took place in Central Jakarta on May 21-22 — spurred by Prabowo’s repeated and unsubstantiated claims of systemic election fraud — the government temporarily restricted certain features on social media platforms to limit the spread of hoaxes and fake news.
Speaking to the media in Jakarta yesterday evening, Rudiantara gave his word that the government wouldn’t resort to the same tactic later this month.
“The government will not restrict [social media] if it does not have great significance on affecting the public, so there is no reason [to restrict it],” Rudiantara said, as quoted by Suara.
“I hope [a restriction] won’t be necessary, the public knows that maintaining social media so it doesn’t become a platform for provocation is everybody’s responsibility.”
Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Wiranto has also said there would be no social media restrictions during the MK hearing.
The hearing is set to begin tomorrow, while the court is expected to deliver a ruling on June 28.
The government’s social media restriction in May— the first of its kind in Indonesia — proved to be a divisive topic, with many backing the government for putting national security above all else during the election protests while critics immediately called for a lifting of the restrictions so as not to rob the public of their right to information. For their part, the government denied violating human rights by restricting social media, asserting they had legal justification to do so.
Ethical issues aside, some might argue that the restrictions were not effective in their goals, considering the fact that many hoaxes still managed to go viral during the riots despite them. That might be explained by the surge in searches for VPN apps in Indonesia during the restriction.
