Last month Indonesia blocked Netflix’s ever-expanding reach into their country. It was due to state-owned telecom firms that had concerns about Netflix having a business permit. This was after Netflix announced that it would be available in more than 130 countries worldwide. Telekom Indonesia, the major telecom company in Indonesia, explained that it needed to make sure that objectionable content was removed.
Telekom’s consumer director explained that “the issue is about the permit. They don’t follow the rules. They also display violence and adult content.”
Now nearly a month later, Indonesia is taking down Tumblr for the very same reasons. The Minister of Indonesia admitted that the government was blocking the blogging site because of pornographic content.
As you might expect, this blockage has made many Tumblr enthusiasts and internet freedom activists furious. By taking down the entire website, Indonesia is not only effectively taking pornographic content, but all forms of content—whether that be artistic, academic, or even business. This nuke approach has caused some users to draw parallels to the censorship center of the world, China, where content is taken down, altered, and even changed for its citizens.
After this backlash, Indonesia’s Minister tried to step back a bit by explaining that they were merely informing Tumblr that they don’t want porn to be listed any longer. It’s clear to see that Indonesia cares more about governmental control than giving people the right to their content. It’s not an issue of permits; it’s about control.
Luckily, the use of VPNs can give you back control. TorGuard VPN is a great VPN to use in Indonesia that will give you control over your online streaming media as well as access to sites like Tumblr that have been unnecessarily blocked. TorGuard offer fast Indonisian VPN servers and access to VPN endpoints in 50 countries world wide.
