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change of mind by the Communications and Information Ministry to block social media and microblogging site Tumblr has drawn criticism from bloggers and internet experts.

Tuesday saw the ministry, through its e-business director general Azhar Hasyim, declare that it would cleanse the Indonesian internet of 477 websites deemed '€œpornographic'€, including Tumblr. The reason for the blockade, said Azhar, was because of the staggering amount of pornographic material and the presence of homosexual content made available to Indonesians on the site.

However, the ministry backtracked on their decision to block the widely popular site on Wednesday due to the intense furor from Indonesian internet users. Ministry spokesperson Ismail Cawidu mentioned that the ministry'€™s censorship panel would continue to evaluate the decision and that any decision made would ultimately be up to Communications and Information Minister Rudiantara and the censorship panel.

'€œWhile it is true Tumblr does not solely contain pornographic material, it is impossible for our internet service providers (ISPs) to single out particular accounts on the site. That'€™s why we are asking Tumblr to do so themselves in order to align their content with the social norms that are suitable here,'€ Ismail said.

Azhar reportedly sent a letter to Tumblr asking them to change their content to suit Indonesia'€™s internet standards. The ministry has demanded that ISPs block the site while it awaits Tumblr'€™s reply. As of writing, Tumblr.com still remains active and open to Indonesian internet users.

Internet observers and bloggers have questioned the government'€™s decision to block the site and have also questioned the government'€™s ability to govern the internet.

Damar Juniarto, regional coordinator for SafeNet and an internet expert, said that in the Tumblr fiasco, the government had demonstrated an unwise attitude toward addressing problems emanating from the internet, especially in light of the fact that its decisions were able to be altered so easily simply because of an uproar from Indonesia'€™s internet users.

'€œThe Tumblr blocking, along with the blocking of other sites such as Vimeo, shows that the government is operating with opaque methods in dealing with the internet. In other words, the governance of our internet is still not clear because of the easiness of their backtracking,'€ Damar said Friday.

Meanwhile, blogger Aditya Eka Prawira, who runs the self-help blog adiitoo.com, said that the decision to declare a blockade of Tumblr without the presence of Rudiantara in the room was a '€œtotal blunder'€ on the ministry'€™s part.

When Azhar declared the ministry'€™s intention on Tuesday, Rudiantara was still in the US accompanying President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo on his state visit. However, Aditya acknowledged that the decision had already been approved by the minister.

'€œThis reeks of the other blunder the government made with the banning of mobile transport apps such as Go-Jek earlier in the year. It was made for unclear reasons,'€ he said.

However, he expressed his gratitude for the reversal of the ban. He further advised the ministry to surf the site to see that it was not just about pornography.

'€œIf the reason is solely because of pornography, why not ban Facebook or Twitter as well? Even though their sites are not solely pornographic, there exists content that is pornographic,'€ Aditya added.