Indonesia Gradually Unblocks Yahoo, Some Gaming Websites

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com – Indonesia’s Communications and Information Ministry has gradually unblocked search engine website Yahoo and some gaming websites Steam, DOTA, and CS Go after these platforms have been registered to the government system.

“The ministry has managed to communicate with Yahoo and Valve Corp (Steam, CS Go, and DOTA),” a spokesperson for the ministry Dedy Permadi said on Tuesday, Aug. 2 as quoted by State News Antara.

“Access to the four electronic services providers has been in the process of normalization since 8:30 a.m. local time today,” he said.

Meanwhile, the ministry has also communicated and ensured that payments firm PayPal will register its platform and comply with licensing policy.

Also read: Indonesia Urged to Explore the Export Potential of Online Games

Earlier, PayPal was included in private international services that had not registered and complied with the requirements as stipulated by the Communications and Information Minister’s Regulation No. 5/2020 on Private Electronic System Organizer (PSE).

Access to the service was blocked, as this non-compliance drew the ire of internet users.
The online payment system was then temporarily opened by the ministry until Aug. 5.

However, the company has currently ensured to register soon will allow people to access the service again.

“PayPal had conveyed its commitment to register in the near future. We are optimistic that PayPal would immediately register in the near future,” Dedy said.

Private PSE registration became one of the hot topics in the last two months as part of the government’s attempts to maintain the nation’s sovereignty in the digital space.
The regulation has existed since a decade ago.

As of Tuesday, at 12:30 p.m. local time, a total of 292 international PSEs and 8,897 domestic PSEs had registered on the ministry’s website.

Source: State News Antara