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20 Sep 2016

Indonesia to ban gay networking apps and websites

Over 80 LGBT apps and websites will be banned in the latest crackdown on the community in the country.

A closed-door meeting held Wednesday at Indonesia's Ministry of Communications decided to ban over 80 apps and websites with LGBT content in Indonesia.

The panel included representatives from the Ministry of Human Development, the National Police, and the Ministry of Religious Affairs, which was represented by a member of the country’s Muslim clerics association. 

“The participants of the meeting all agree to block websites promoting LGBT,” Aidil Chendramata, director of information security for the Ministry of Communications, told BuzzFeed News following the meeting. 

Earlier this month, authorities busted an online paedophile ring they said linked adult men to mostly teenage boys and arrested three suspects. Police said they discovered Grindr on one of the suspects’ iPads, and believe he had used it to pimp boys.

Agung Setya, the police’s director of economic and special crimes, icalled for Grindr and 18 other gay networking apps in use in Indonesia to be banned by the Ministry of Communications. Setya said police “hope that, with the authority the communications ministry has, it will make the right decision and impose a ban”.

The ministry sent letters to internet providers requesting them to block the apps communications ministry spokesman Noor Iza told AFP. 

"We are starting to block LGBT applications," he said, referring to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. He added that authorities were targeting services which promote "sexual deviancy."

It is unclear if companies such as Google and Apple will follow instructions to remove apps from their digitial stores.

Prominent Indonesian gay rights activist Dede Oetomo accused the government of seeking to "create fear in society", and added authorities were "experiencing a moral panic".

This is the latest in a string of LGBT news to come from Indonesia, where the community has been experiencing a backlash since the beginning of the year.

Recently the government said there is “no room” in the country for the gay community.

Indonesia

Reader's Comments

1. 2016-09-21 08:41  
sad scared government.... actually what is their problem?
2. 2016-09-21 11:56  
Religion is the poison of society !
3. 2016-09-21 15:53  
Hook up now?
4. 2016-09-21 21:28  
This is a disgusting abuse of civil rights and a direct attack on our community. This backward way of thinking needs to be stopped.
5. 2016-09-21 22:21  
Cancelled my trip to Bali. Won't go to Malaysia either. We need to make this abuse of our community known to the general public so that perhaps a general tourism boycott will ensue. Maybe if we hurt their foreign based income it will have an effect. But with religious nuts there is no guarantee.
6. 2016-09-22 07:51  
Bigot and haters. Boycott Indonesia. What will the United Nations Human and Civil Rights agencies do in response to this? Cancel trips to Indonesia and Malaysia. No Gay Dollars for them. The Gay communities need to get smart and get backbone.
7. 2016-09-22 12:15  
#5 and #6: this is well and good, but it won't help Indonesian or Malaysian gays and governments won't care. Gay tourism is too small compared to mass tourism.
8. 2016-09-22 14:41  
What is gay tourism? How is it different to mass tourism? Especially in terms of western white males going to thailand, malaysia, Indonesia, etc. ?

9. 2016-09-22 15:26  
What will the United Nations Human and Civil Rights agencies do in response to this?.....NOTHING, the United Nations is as helpful as another hole in the head, it has been proven SO many times in the past that the United Nations is a toothless tiger, but still takes Millions of dollars from countries to operate an organization that is NOT working.
It`s up to us to hit Indonesia with a ban...hit the tourism industry....HARD!
10. 2016-09-22 16:10  
One wonders if the Indonesian government would have been quite so resolute to ban 'straight' dating apps if the paedophiles concerned had been heterosexual in nature and were found to be violating underage girls while being in possession of such dating apps?

Just another example of a minority group being a soft target and easy to vilify and demonise in one populist fell swoop.

As targeted regressive backward and unfair as this all appears to be, I hate to say it, but the gay communities that have existed there before during and after the advent of the departure of these dating apps will probably continue to exist and soldier on as they always have done in the past.

The other quite likely possibility is that the more entrepreneurial and creative types will invariably find a way around this. Pornography is also supposedly banned from being available via the Internet and ISPs there are supposedly co-operating with the ban, but I know for a fact locals can still access online pornographic content if they want and know how to, this could well end up being the same case?
11. 2016-09-22 22:50  
Narrow minded people I feel sad for the people living there.
12. 2016-09-23 01:34  
what websites for gays are they banning? they killed already the freedom of expressions
for all the LGBT movements and cheap travel
visit www.palopyakan.com
13. 2016-09-23 03:48  
Well, well, well...... What is next round up the LGBT community along with their sympathizers and haul them off to prison camps?

Hmmmmmm, sounds like what Hitler wanted to do in the 1940.

The Good People of Indonesia need to clean house and kick out these scum suppressors of human rights! Enough of these despicable excuses for human life; destroying innocent people's lives for their own twisted ideals.
I would hope the world will rise up and smack down these jerks!
14. 2016-09-24 06:20  
Why so difficult for lgbt groups and activists to support the prevention of paedophilia? It didn't look like networking apps are under fire unless groups want to be seen hard done by.

Play with the facts.
15. 2016-09-29 00:55  
no wonder travel list on malaysian SD site are down to single digit

but if u guys boycott malaysia and indonesia to punish their gov, which is sensible, what about the gay asians guys that have no prospect of ever going out of their country to a better place like the one u are in? coz for most of the time you guys are the medication for them from being taking their own life due to depression related suicide. most people grew up in asia who turn out to be gay are lacked of fatherly love, that is why most of us want to have a gay white daddy who can fill the hole for them. I know it is useless of what i say.
But think of the guys that needed u guys more especially now there is no way for them to communicate with anyone even online.
Send this to ur friends who have the same intention to boycott these two countries please.
16. 2016-10-04 16:56  
One must remember in Muslim Countries Religion comes first Economy comes second so it would not matter if tourists boycott the country.
Comment #17 was deleted by an administrator on 2016-10-10 20:24

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