Minister Rudiantara Meets with Telegram CEO Pavel Durov
Minister Rudiantara meets with Telegram CEO Pavel Durov, at the Office of the Ministry of Communications and Informatics, Tuesday (1/8).
Minister of Communications and Informatics, Rudiantara, met with Telegram CEO Pavel Durov at the Ministry of Communications and Informatics office on Tuesday (1/8). The meeting discussed the handling of terrorism issues and radical content that developed in the Telegram platform.
The meeting is a follow-up to the Ministry of Communications and Informatics policy to disable 11 Web-based Telegrams Domain Name System (DNS) services. The decision was made on 14 July 2017 that prompted criticism of Telegram users in Indonesia.
“I appreciate Telegram for being very responsive in addressing this issue,” Minister Rudiantara said. When it comes to the handling of terrorism, Telegram CEO Pavel Durov also shares the same commitment. “Telegram is very concerned about the threat of global terrorism, especially in Indonesia. It is important for the Government of Indonesia and Telegram to make a Joint Statement in this regard,” Durov explained.
As a follow up to this commitment, Ministry of Communications and Informatics and Telegram have agreed to organize and manage the process. The speed of action is needed in order to thwart the threats of terrorism and radicalization. Therefore, both Minister Rudiantara and Telegram CEO Pavel Durov have agreed that the process will be discussed in a meeting involving the technical team.
Moreover, Director General of Information Applications, Samuel A Pangerapan, added that thanks to the goodwill and commitment from Telegram to manage and deal with issues that threaten the country through the spread of terrorism issues and radicalization content, in accordance with the procedures applied, 11 Web-based Telegrams DNS are immediately restored. “It will be restored soon this week,” Samuel said as quoted in a press release delivered by the Ministry of Communications and Informatics.
Chronology of Telegram Blocking
The decision to block 11 Web-based Telegram is carried out after the Ministry of Communications and Informatics sent requests via email. The request to block thousands of terrorism and radicalization contents spreading in 11 DNS was sent from 29 March 2016 to 11 July 2017. However, there was no response.
In this regard, previously, Telegram CEO Pavel Durov apologized for the mistake and admitted receiving emails from the Ministry of Communications and Informatics on 16 July 2017. In order to solve the issue, the Ministry invited Pavel Durov to Indonesia (Public Relations Bureau, Ministry of Communications and Informatics/ES/EN) (EN/ES) (MUR/YM/Naster).
