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Fortnite to be banned over blasphemous gameplay, Sandiaga says
The Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry plans to ban Fortnite over an allegedly blasphemous objective in the popular video game.
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A person logs in to Epic Games' Fortnite on a smartphone in Los Angeles in this file photo taken on Aug. 14, 2020. (AFP/Chris Delmas)
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ourism and Creative Economy Minister Sandiaga Uno plans to ban the popular video game Fortnite, arguing that one of the battle royale game’s objectives is to demolish a building resembling the Kaaba, a holy site for Muslims.
The ministry said it would outlaw Fortnite to prevent children from playing it, as the game promoted violence and religious intolerance and was potentially blasphemous against Islam.
“I have been told that players must destroy an icon that is deemed to resemble the Kaaba so as to get new weapons and advance to the next level,” Sandiaga said in a press statement on Monday. “Therefore, we will instruct our team to evaluate this game and issue a ban.”
The Kaaba is one of the most sacred sites in Islam. It is a building at the center of the Great Mosque of Mecca in Saudi Arabia, which Muslims from around the world travel to as a pilgrimage.
“I think this absolutely contradicts our [Indonesia’s] noble values, especially religious harmony; this is a very sensitive matter,” Sandiaga said.
The Communications and Information Ministry is also considering restricting access to two other popular battle royale online games, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) and Free Fire, over concerns about mobile game addiction among young people.
Last year, the Aceh Ulema Council (MPU) demanded that players of PUBG and other games depicting violence be subjected to flogging under the province’s sharia-based Criminal Code bylaw, contending that “violent” games were forbidden by Islamic law.
