TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Members of the House of Representatives (DPR)`s Commission I urged Communication and Informatics Minister Rudiantara to block the access to Facebook following the data breach scandal.
“Just block [Facebook] like we did to Telegram and Tumblr,” said Sukamta, member of DPR`s Commission I today, April 7.
It was widely reported that Facebook was involved in breaching its 1.3 million Indonesian users’ data to political consultant institution Cambridge Analytica. There are 87 million users exposed to the data breach worldwide.
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Sukamta maintains that the breach cannot be seen lightly and that Facebook has violated Indonesian laws by sharing private user’s information to a third-party company. “This can potentially become a national threat,” he said.
Sukamta went as far to say that the Communication and Informatics Ministry was not forceful enough against Facebook. “So that it (blockage) would be a deterrent for them and prevent further possible violations,” said the House member.
According to Chairman of DPR's Commission I Abdul Kharis Almasyhari, the commission will summons Facebook regarding its data breach and tax issues. The meeting is said to take place on Wednesday, April 11, at 2 pm.
However, the ministry’s legal expert Hendir Sudiakto said that his office will further study Facebook’s violation first before resorting to the option of blocking the access to the social media giant.
Taufiq Siddiq
