Indonesia blocks access to Steam, Epic Games, PayPal and more

The Indonesian government has blocked access to a range of online services, including Steam, Epic Games, PayPal and Yahoo after companies failed to comply with new requirements regarding the country’s restrictive content modification laws, As I mentioned earlier before Reuters.

In line with the rules, companies that are considered “private electronic systems providers” must register with the government’s database to operate in the country, or face a nationwide ban. Indonesia gave companies until July 27 to comply and has since banned companies that have not.

The condition is part of a comprehensive code, called MR5, that was first introduced in 2020. As noted before Reuters, laws give the Indonesian government the ability to obtain data about specific users, as well as force companies to remove content that “disturbs public order” or is considered illegal. Platforms have four hours to take action on “urgent” removal requests, or 24 hours in the case of any other content.

a 2021 Report from the Electronic Frontier Foundation Digital Rights Group (EFF) describes Indonesia’s laws as “aggressive for human rights”, as it puts the platforms at the mercy of the Indonesian government, which will ban them if they do not comply with local laws. Earlier this month, EFF crafted a message To the Indonesian Ministry of Communications and Information (Kominfo), urges the government to repeal “invasive content modification rules”.

The ban has left users in Indonesia stranded without the ability to do so Process payments or even play certain games. as pointed out Directed by Daniel AhmedSome of the other popular games and services affected by the ban include Origin, a senior analyst at Niko Partners, Dota 2And the counter strike. Meanwhile, Apple, Microsoft, Google, Amazon, TikTok, Twitter, Netflix and Spotify Registered for a license last weekAnd they are all still available.

according to ReutersKominfo general manager Semuel Abrijani Pangerapan said the country may give users access to PayPal for a short period of time during the ban. Pangerapan also indicated that the ban will be lifted once the companies are registered in the country’s database. It is not clear when these services will return online, or if they will be registered in the Indonesian database. PayPal, Epic Games, and Valve did not respond immediately the edgeComment request.