No Social Media Restrictions During Election Trials: Communication Minister

Minister of Communication and Informatics Rudiantara.

Indonesian Minister of Communication and Informatics Rudiantara has dismissed rumors that social media restrictions was imposed during the trials on presidential election disputes at the Constitutional Court, Jakarta, Friday (14/6).

According to the Minister, the Government’s policy on limiting access to social media was only carried out on 22-24 May 2019 during a rally staged in front of the office of the Elections Supervisory Board (Bawaslu).

“At that time, there were dozens of hoaxes and negative content which contained not only lies, but also provocations,” Rudiantara said in Jakarta on Saturday (15/6).

During the latest mass rally, the Minister continued, there were also websites used to spread hoaxes.

“We found 600 to 700 hoaxes per day,” the Minister said, adding that this was why the Government decided to temporarily restrict social media access. However, he added, the number of hoaxes when the dispute trials began at the Constitutional Court has declined.

“The number (of hoaxes) continues to decline,” Rudiantara said.

“So, there is no reason to impose restrictions because that is not the Government’s goal,” he added. (Humas Kominfo/ES)

Translated by: Galuh Wicaksono
Edited by: Muhardi/Muhammad Ersan Pamungkas