Indonesia said on Thursday a decision by the country’s biggest telecoms provider to block Netflix could be reversed if the global video-streaming giant obeyed local laws, particularly on “porn” and “radicalism”.
The decision on Wednesday to bar access to Netflix came just weeks after the California-based firm announced it was expanding its Internet TV services to 130 new markets, including Indonesia.
State-owned Telekomunikasi Indonesia, or Telkom, said Netflix had not met existing regulations such as obtaining a local business licence and opening an in-country office, complaints echoed by officials.
Concerns that films provided by Netflix could evade scrutiny by Indonesia’s Film Censorship Board also appear to have been a driving force behind the ban.
Ismail Cawidu, a spokesman for the ministry, said online companies were forbidden from broadcasting content that went against the “public interest”, and Netflix was no exception.
They must follow the rules. No porn, no radicalism and no copyright infringement
“They must follow the rules. No porn, no radicalism and no copyright infringement,” he said.