Indonesian authorities block Steam, Epic, Ubisoft and Nintendo
Over the weekend, the Indonesian government began the task of blocking any website or service that had not registered as part of new “internet control” laws. It ended up being a lot, including everything from Steam to the Epic Games Store to Nintendo Online to EA and Ubisoft’s platforms.
Indonesia’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (Kominfo) took the steps following the introduction of strict new laws, which the government says are part of a crackdown on anything displayed online that is “deemed illegal” and will require any online service platform or provider that hosts such “illegal” content to remove it within 24 hours (or four if it is considered to be “urgent”).
To comply with these laws, international companies operating in Indonesia would have had to register by the weekend, and it is not surprising that many have chosen not to, given the extensive powers at play, at least for now. In response, non-participating services have been blocked to Indonesian IPs, meaning that alongside wider, more mainstream companies such as PayPal and Yahoo, a number of gaming platforms have also been cut off.
While PayPal was temporarily restored (to allow customers to get their money from the platform), the game stores and platforms have remained dark since the weekend (the new law’s registration deadline expired on July 27).
As Global voices summarizethese laws have been opposed both inside and outside of Indonesia since they were first announced:
The mandatory registration of private electronic system operators (ESOs) is set out in Ministerial Regulation 5 (MR5) issued in December 2020. Its amended version, Ministerial Regulation 10 (MR10), was issued in May 2021.
Both MR5 and MR10 have been consistently opposed by the media, civil society groups and human rights defenders for containing provisions that pose a threat to freedom of expression.
Human Rights Watch have said about the laws:
MR5 is deeply problematic, giving public authorities overly broad powers to regulate online content, access user data and punish non-compliant companies…Ministerial Regulation 5 is a human rights disaster that will destroy freedom of expression in Indonesia, and should not be used in its current form.
Although this is not a market that usually makes the headlines, this is important news because Indonesia with its large population (with 270 million is the fourth most populous nation on earth) huge the market for online services. As The Diplomat point out“Indonesia remains one of the largest internet markets in the world, with the third largest population of Facebook users and also ranks in the top 10 for users of YouTube, TikTok, Twitter, Instagram and WhatsApp”.
None of the services currently affected are shut out; they are technically only limited either until they register with Kominfo or the law is changed (or repealed). Some of the companies that have signed up include Google, Roblox and Riot Games (League of Legends, Appreciates). And while direct access to services like Steam isn’t currently available, Indonesian players reportedly already are get around this by using a VPN.
