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Pornography filtering begins
BlackBerry smartphone manufacturer Research in Motion (RIM), has announced that it is in the process of implementing an Internet content filtering system in accordance with the government’s recent demands
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lackBerry smartphone manufacturer Research in Motion (RIM), has announced that it is in the process of implementing an Internet content filtering system in accordance with the government’s recent demands.
In a statement sent to The Jakarta Post, RIM said, “the technical solution meets the Communications and Information Technology Ministry’s stated requirements and is designed to utilize the same standard filter lists provided by the government to the industry in Indonesia.”
Communications and Information Technology Minister Tifatul Sembiring earlier this month singled out the Canadian telecommunications company, demanding they meet the government’s requirements for all telecommunications providers that were created last year.
Tifatul said the company needed to comply with Indonesian law and restrict Internet browser services available on BlackBerrys from displaying pornographic content. He said if the company did not comply, its service would be disabled.
RIM was given a Jan. 21 deadline.
Ministry spokesman Gatot S. Dewabroto said that pornographic filtering started on Tuesday at 4 p.m.
“Our team attempted to access pornography on the Internet and encountered difficulties,” he said.
Through his controversial Twitter account, Tifatul made other demands on the company, including that it should build a local server, hire more local workers and open service centers in the country.
Gatot said RIM had agreed to some of those demands, and planned to establish 40 service centers.
The company was also open to discussing the possibility of interception with law enforcement officials as well as building a network of aggregators to ease communications costs.
RIM said it would continue to invest in the Indonesian market.
“RIM looks forward to continuing our investments in the Indonesian marketplace and to continue supporting the needs of our customers, developers and distribution partners,” the RIM statement said.
Tifatul said he was grateful for the Internet content filter in a statement he issued Thursday.
“This shows that the concerns raised by me were not absurd demands but realistic ones based on existing regulations, which RIM was supposed to heed.
“Therefore, the ministry appreciates RIM’s Canadian management for fulfilling its commitment to filter pornographic content before the deadline,” the statement said.
Tifatul said should any pornography be accessible on BlackBerrys after today, it only meant that
some content had slipped through the filter.
“The ministry realizes that in the cyber world there is a lot of pornography that is easily accessible. Therefore, the ministry asks RIM to continue filtering as best it can,” he said.
Tifatul vowed last year to block all Internet access to pornography before the beginning of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which was in August.
Telecommunications providers, including the PT Indosat and XL Axiata, scrambled to adhere to the minister’s request, presenting blocking methods in a demonstration for ministry officials.
Several websites reported glitches as their content was mistaken for pornography and blocked.
