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Indonesia’s Jokowi must apologise for Papua internet throttling amid last year’s unrest, court rules
- As unrest flared across the provinces of Papua and West Papua, the government said it slowed internet access to ‘prevent hoaxes from spreading’
- In Wednesday’s ruling a Jakarta court ordered the central government, including the president, to apologise for its actions
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An Indonesian court on Wednesday ordered President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo to make an official apology after ruling that his government’s decision to rein in internet speeds to contain civil unrest in the Papua region last year was unlawful.
Demonstrations broke out in a number of cities last August after Papuan students in the city of Surabaya on Java island were allegedly taunted with racist slurs.
As unrest flared across the provinces of Papua and West Papua, the government said it throttled internet access to “prevent hoaxes from spreading” because this could trigger more violence.
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In Wednesday’s ruling, the Jakarta administrative court ordered the central government, including Widodo, to make an official apology for “slowing and/or cutting internet access” to the Indonesian people and media organisations.
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The court ordered the government to publish the apology in three national newspapers and broadcast it on six television stations within one month of the ruling.
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