Communication Ministry Says Telegram App Remains Accessible
18 July 2017 10:36 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Aidil Chedramata, Director for Information Security, the Communication and Informatics Ministry, said that the blocking of Telegram app only applies to its web version, whereas its mobile version remains accessible.
According to Aidil, Telegram web has been blocked because it has a more extensive communication capacity with data transfer feature which is absent in its mobile version. In addition, it is more practical than blocking the app.
Read: Police Chief: Terrorists Prefer Communicating via Telegram
He said that the move serves as a reminder for Telegram to comply with the prevailing rules in Indonesia. “It’s a warning,” he said.
The Ministry’s Director General Samuel A Pangerapan explained yesterday that Telegram web was used by terrorists to coordinate and communicate with each other.
“…the web has a better capacity and is capable of transferring 1.5 GB files. They [terrorists] transferred their info and we observed that they also used the web-based [app] due to its advantages…” he said.
Read: Police Chief Reveals Reasons for Blocking Telegram
The Communication and Informatics Ministry had sent emails to Telegram since March 2016. However, they had not received any reply to the emails. Telegram only responded and established two-way communications after the blocking.
Samuel is confident that the move will be effective to disrupt communication among terrorists in Indonesia who uses Telegram.
ANTARA