After successfully getting Youtube to suspend videos by gaming influencer Kimi Hime over “immoral” content, it appears that Indonesia’s Information and Communications Ministry (Kominfo) is continuing its crusade against questionable content online.
Kominfo is now calling on citizens to help them find and block more “negative” content online.
“Please inform us. Sometimes there is one or two content [producers] who are more vulgar than Kimi. Please let us know. And please do not forget to include the link,” Kominfo spokesman Ferdinandus Setu told reporters yesterday, as quoted by Detik.
Ferdinandus noted that the ministry actually has an AI system capable of detecting negative content online, but said that input from citizens is always valuable.
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Last week, Youtube geo-blocked three videos from Indonesia belonging to Indonesian gaming Youtuber Kimi Hime for supposedly depicting vulgar content, with the 29-year-old vlogger becoming the focus of a new government-led push towards censorship of not just pornographic but also risqué content.
Kimi, a “Gaming and Tech Influencer” who has 2.2 million subscribers on Youtube, is well known for showing off her curves in her videos, which often have misleading titles filled with sexual innuendo.
Kominfo argued that some of her videos should be categorized as immoral and therefore in violation of an article in the controversial Information and Electronic Transactions Act (UU ITE), a law that has long been criticized as a tool of oppression against freedom of expression.
A Youtube representative confirmed to us that it took local laws into consideration when suspending Kimi’s videos, but declined to comment on whether or not the video platform utilized Kominfo’s interpretation for vulgarity in deciding to remove the content from their site.
In a video plea she recorded for President Joko Widodo, Kimi criticized Kominfo for having her videos suspended, saying that they unfairly targeted her “based on their assumptions and opinions.”
Kominfo has summoned Kimi for further talks about her content, but the vlogger has so far only sent her lawyers to meet with the ministry. One lawyer yesterday said that Kimi has voluntarily unpublished 57 of her videos for the time being to prevent further controversy.
