C-D18-00223: AFTER SHARP OUTCRY, GOI RESTORES

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 000772

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/17/2018
TAGS: PGOV KPAO ECPS EINT ID
SUBJECT: C-D18-00223: AFTER SHARP OUTCRY, GOI RESTORES
YOUTUBE

REF: A. JAKARTA 719

B. JAKARTA 674

C. JAKARTA 655

D. STATE 20822

Classified By: Pol/C Joseph Legend Novak, reasons 1.4(b+d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: The GOI has issued an abject public
apology in lifting its order requiring that Internet service
providers prevent access to YouTube and a handful of other
websites. In taking the action, the GOI was responding to
angry complaints from civil society advocates, business
leaders, the media and the public in general. The government
had temporarily banned the websites in order to restrict
access to the anti-Islamic film "Fitna." The GOI--in trying
to appeal to Islamic groups--got burned, the backlash
reflecting the strength of public sensitivities regarding
information access and connectivity in this nascent
democracy. END SUMMARY.


2. (SBU) MINISTER SAYS "SORRY": Following an outpouring of
complaints from business and civil society leaders, the GOI
reversed its decision to blockade websites that carried the
controversial anti-Islamic film, "Fitna". (Note: Per ref A,
two weeks ago, Indonesian Internet service providers blocked
YouTube, MySpace, Metacafe, Rapidshare and LiveLeak based on
ministerial instructions.) On April 11, Information and
Communications Minister Muhammad Nuh apologized for the
temporary ban, telling the press, "I openly ask the public's
forgiveness for the inconvenience caused over the past few
days by the blocking of sites." He added, a bit defensively:
"This was all a consequence of a process designed to protect
the state." Other GOI contacts said the government took the
move to protect "public sensitivities."


3. (SBU) After the ban was lifted, Internet service
providers immediately restored access to YouTube and the
other blocked websites. According to Director General of
Information Technology Cahyana Ahmadjayadi, the Information
Ministry's intent all along was to block offensive content,
not websites. In the meantime, the government has
half-heartedly taken another tack on the matter. In a letter
issued on April 10, the Information Ministry invited service
providers to filter content related to "Fitna"--rather than
the websites that host the videos--by blocking the ten most
popular uniform resource locators (URL) specific to "Fitna".
Chair of the Indonesian Internet Service Provider Association
(APJII),Sylvia Sumarlin, told Mission that as of April 15
she had received no complaints about the filtering of "Fitna"
content. That said, "Fitna" is hard to come by.


4. (C) THE PROTESTS: The ban sparked a sharp outcry. Civil
society advocates, business leaders, the media and the public
in general led the successful protest against the GOI's
action. Local press reported on small business complaints on
the blocking of Multiply--a site used to sell goods. These
owners and thousands of other users lodged complaints to
their service providers. Media advocates also protested,
calling the ban tantamount to censorship. The Independent
Alliance of Journalists (AJI) likened the action to "banning
all bookstores because you don't agree with the contents of
one book." An outpouring of news stories and critical
editorials added to the civil society pressure. Alvin Lie, a
member of the national legislature, told Pol/C on April 17
that "the government's action just was not tenable;
Indonesians want to live in a free society and have gotten
used to that. When the government got the message of the
protests and heard the anger, they backed down."


5. (C) GOOGLE COMMENTS: Google continued to pursue the
matter with the GOI throughout the brouhaha over the
temporary website ban. Cahyana of the Information Ministry
claimed that Google's Director of Public Policy Andrew
McLaughlin had agreed to block access to "Fitna" content
through YouTube in Indonesia. However, Jake Hubert of
Google's Asian Government Affairs insisted it made no such

JAKARTA 00000772 002 OF 002


commitment, but rather that Google had asked the Information
Ministry to provide it with a list of specific videos
believed to violate Indonesian law. Google would then
evaluate those videos, Hubert told us. As of April 15, the
Ministry had not provided that list and had not responded to
Google's written request for a follow up meeting to discuss
the situation.


6. (C) THE GOI GETS BURNED: The GOI, quite transparently,
put the ban in motion in order to appease Islamic groups.
And it is the case that the film "Fitna" had sparked protests
here (see ref B). In the process, however the GOI got
burned, its action generating a sharp backlash. That
reaction reflected the strength of public sensitivities and
the strong desire for information access and connectivity in
this nascent democracy. The Indonesian government--if it has
learned anything--will be much more careful next time when it
considers such a step.


HUME