The 2009 Law on Film Censorship only mentions imported movies as an object of censorship policy. Netflix is at ambiguous case, as it does not run a movie importing business, said LSF chairman Ahmad Yani Basuki.

"Honestly, we are confused. Those movies are broadcast in Indonesia by a foreign company using servers located in foreign countries. Common movie media such as celluloid, CDs and DVDs are clear enough, but Netflix is not," he told thejakartapost.com in Jakarta on Monday.

Therefore, Yani said, he expected the Communications and Information Ministry and the Culture and Education Ministry to soon issue new regulations on internet-based movie providers. Both ministries had previously promised to issue regulations on Netflix-like services by June.

"We are currently waiting for the new regulations to come out. Hopefully, there will be a clear category regarding Netflix," he said.

However, Yani underlined that adding streaming-movies to the LSF’s duties would create a new problem for the agency, as it lacked human resources.

The LSF consists of 17 commissioners and 45 censorship professionals. But currently there are only 16 commissioners and 33 censorship professionals. It takes a day for the agency to censor one movie and another one or two days for the administration process.

"If we are assigned to censor Netflix’ contents, we probably will have to add more resources," Yani said. (ags)

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