San Francisco Frontiers - Under blackout threat, Wikimedia reaches compromise with Indonesia

Under a 2020 regulation, all electronic system providers (PSEs) must register in Indonesia for what the government calls legal and user protection purposes before making their services available.

Critics have pointed to a provision that requires registered PSEs to take down content deemed as "causing public unrest and disturbing public order" as a free speech restriction.

The Wikimedia Foundation, which owns and operates Wikipedia, had previously said the provision "departs from international human rights norms".

In a statement sent to AFP on Saturday, the foundation said it had a "very constructive meeting" earlier in the week with the Communication and Digital Affairs ministry, during which it explained its "non-profit mission" and "emphasised its commitment to protecting user privacy and security".

It said the ministry informed it that the registration requirement was administrative in nature.

"With assurances that there would be no unlawful content takedown orders or data disclosure requirements that could put the Wikimedia community-led model at risk, the Foundation is working constructively towards the administrative next steps," the statement said.

The ministry did not respond to an AFP request for comment.

The government last week gave the foundation seven days to register or face its services, including Wikipedia Indonesia, being blocked in the country of around 284 million people.

Last October, Indonesia briefly suspended TikTok's local operating licence after the social media platform refused to share information sought by Jakarta about violent anti-government protests earlier in the year.

C.Williams--SFF