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

The Indonesian government has blocked access to several online services, including Steam, Epic Games, PayPal and Yahoo, after the companies failed to comply with a new requirement related to the country's restrictive content moderation laws, as previously reported by Reuters. it was done. He was done.

According to the rules, companies deemed to be "private electronic systems providers" must register with the government's database to operate in the country, or otherwise face a nationwide ban. Indonesia gave companies until July 27 to comply and has since banned those that have not.

The requirement is part of a broader legislation, called MR5, which was first introduced in 2020. As noted by Reuters, the laws give the Indonesian government the ability to obtain data about specific users, as well as force companies to remove content that is deemed "disturbing. public order" or illegal. goes. Is. The Platform has four hours or, in the case of any other Content, 24 hours to process "immediate" removal requests.

A 2021 report by digital rights group Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) called Indonesia's laws "aggressive to human rights" because it places the platform at the mercy of the Indonesian government, which is not in compliance with local laws. will ban them. Earlier this month, the EFF wrote a letter to the Indonesian Ministry of Communications and Information (Kominfo), urging the government to repeal its "offensive content moderation rules".

The ban has left users in Indonesia without the ability to process payments or even play certain games. As Daniel Ahmed, a senior analyst at Nico Partners, pointed out, some of the other popular games and services affected by the ban include Origin, Dota 2 and Counter-Strike. Meanwhile, Apple, Microsoft, Google, Amazon, TikTok, Twitter, Netflix, and Spotify registered for licenses last week, and all are available.

According to Reuters, Comino general director Samuel Abrijani Pangerapan says the country will give users access to PayPal for five days starting July 31. Pengrapan says the agency hasn't heard from PayPal and hopes this shortened window "provides users with enough time to migrate, get their money, and find other services." Valve is reportedly in the process of registering with the Indonesian database, which will unblock Steam, Dota 2 and Counter-Strike.

Pangerapan said the ban would be lifted once the companies register with the country's database. It is unclear when these services will be back online, or whether they will be registered with the Indonesian database. PayPal, Epic Games and Valve did not immediately respond to The Verge's request for comment.