TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Communication and Information Technology Ministry affirmed that Telegram websites were blocked because solid evidence shows that they were misused to distribute radicalism leading to terrorism.
"We have solid evidence, there are more than 500 pages ranging from radicalism, how to assemble bombs, hate messages against police personnel, they are abundant!" Communication Minister Rudiantara said Saturday, July 15.
Read: Minister Demands Counter-Radicalism SOP from Telegram
Furthermore, the Minister explained that blocking Telegram has been consulted and approved by three institutions namely Communication and Information Technology Ministry, National Intelligence Agency (BIN), and National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT).
Rudiantara added that compared to other instant messaging and social media services, Telegram sites do not have effective complaint procedure which causes communication problems in the event of dangerous message contents. He mentioned that Twitter has representatives in Jakarta, Facebook has an office in Singapore and we can easily reach them when there are troubled contents.
As a result, the Minister demanded Telegram create and hand over standard operating procedure (SOP) to handle radicalism contents. The SOP will help to determine whether the blocking will be canceled or not.
ANTARA