Indonesia blocks PayPal and Yahoo over new regulations

Yahoo, PayPal, and several gaming websites have been blocked by Indonesia for failing to comply with new regulations, according to Reuters.

The new licensing rules required tech firms to register as of November 2020 and allows authorities to access platform user data. It also lets them take down content seen as unlawful – or that “disturbs public order” – within 24 hours.

Google and Meta are among several tech companies that left it to the last minute to register ahead of 20 July deadline, which had already been extended.

Samuel Abrijani Pangerapan, a senior official at Indonesia’s Communications Ministry, told Reuters that websites including the search engine Yahoo, online payment system PayPal, and gaming websites such as EpicGames, Steam and others had been blocked for not registering soon enough.

The move has been met by backlash on Twitter by Indonesian users of the sites, with EpicGames, PayPal and hashtags such as “BlokirKominfo” (block Communication Ministry) trending on Indonesian Twitter.

Currently, Indonesia has temporarily opened access to PayPal to allow Indonesian users to deposit their money.

If the platforms decide to comply with registration rules, then authorities would unblock the websites, Pangerapan said, commenting that the measure is there as protection for Indonesian internet users.