Under former governors Joko Widodo and Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama, Jakartans had unprecedented access to video recordings of meetings conducted by the Jakarta provincial government on Youtube as part of their administration’s efforts to increase transparency. Ironically, it was one of those recordings that was used as evidence to put Ahok in jail for his controversial blasphemy conviction.
Governor Anies Baswedan and Vice Governor Sandiaga Uno’s administration are taking a very different approach from Ahok’s administration, reversing many of his transparency policies — including regular uploads of government meetings onto Youtube — citing their potential for creating divisions among the public.
“The public is so creative, and my job is to unite all the people. But, if (the videos) are used for memes or edited by those who support us or who don’t yet support us, there could be divisions,” Sandiaga said, as quoted by Kompas yesterday.
However, Sandi insisted that the public is still free to view the video recordings, although they will no longer be easily accessible on Youtube like before. Instead, the vice governor said citizens must file a formal request to the Jakarta provincial government’s IT and Communications department to view a recording of a meeting.
“We’re not hiding anything. We’re open kimono, open kebaya. We’re not hiding anything,” Sandiaga said.
Last year, a university professor named Buni Yani posted a trimmed version of a video uploaded to the Jakarta provincial government’s Youtube page showing Ahok’s infamous speech in the Thousand Islands in which he warned those in attendance not to be fooled by those who use the Quran as a political tool. Buni Yani’s misleading transcription of the video clip ultimately led to Ahok’s blasphemy trial and his eventual 2-year prison sentence, while the university professor was sentenced to 1.5 years in prison for creating religious unrest by uploading the video.
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