Communications Ministry Backpedals, Says Vimeo Ban ‘Not Permanent’
Jakarta. The Ministry of Communications and Information said on Friday that it did not expect its controversial ban on video-sharing site Vimeo to last for long.
“It’s not permanent,” acting ministry spokesman Ismail Cawidu said, as quoted by the state-run Antara News Agency. “We’re only waiting to see a minimum effort to remove the pornographic content.”
The ministry’s statement came after the ban was widely criticized online. Some called the decision a threat to freedom while others said it would have a detrimental effect on Indonesia’s creative industries — the site, a pioneer in high-definition playback, has long been favored as a platform and forum by independent filmmakers.
The ministry decided to issue the ban over what it said was pornographic content, although the site bans pornography in its terms of use. The ban was rolled out sporadically, with some Internet service providers enforcing it from the beginning and others not, perhaps because they had not yet updated their blacklists, or perhaps by active choice.
“This is about upholding the law, we’re not being selective in shutting down pornographic content,” Ismail said. “As long as there’s nudity, the law should be upheld.”
Twitter users wondered why the ministry would go after a respected video-sharing service rather than hardcore pornography or pro-terrorism sites. Earlier this week, Tifatul came under fire for a seemingly flippant response to a question about a website expressing support for Nigerian terrorist group Boko Haram.
Ismail on Friday reiterated Tifatul’s denials that the site had been banned over a video making fun of the Islamic-based Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), which he led before joining President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s cabinet in 2009.
“It has nothing to do with politics,” Ismail said.
Watchdogs said the law had not been applied fairly. Aulia Masna, the chief editor at DailySocial, argued that Vimeo should have been seen as “a public service.”
“Banning Vimeo entirely is affecting people whose livelihoods depend on having access to the service such as advertising professionals, students, educators, journalists, filmmakers, animators, and so on,” he said.
Edy Susanto, creative director at Cerahati New Media Works — an advertising company that counts Garuda Indonesia, Google, Nestle and Unilever as clients — said the ban had created difficulties for his business.
“My office has been using Vimeo premium services for quite some time now,” he said in an email on Friday. “Most of my portfolio is on Vimeo, because of the better resolution it offers compared to other video sites such as YouTube. And I linked those videos on Vimeo into Cerahati’s website. After the Vimeo ban, some of my future clients can’t view the portfolio on my website. That makes my company looked incompetent. In this case, the government directly harmed my company.”
He said that the ministry’s actions had reduced freedom of speech and hurt Indonesian innovation.
“We have the right to information, who are they to block my knowledge? Especially in the case of Vimeo, which is NOT A PORN SITE,” he wrote.
Vimeo has not yet said whether it will comply with the Indonesian government’s request that the site block some of its own content for Indonesian viewers, as YouTube has done.
“We’re still evaluating our options. It’s a tricky situation!” the company said, in response to a tweet from the Jakarta Globe.
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