Criticism of the Ministry of Communication and Information's Negative Content Scraping Machine
Internet censorship
IT Practitioner and Information Security Expert ITB Budi Rahardjo criticized the government's approach to addressing negative content by blocking websites. According to Budi Rahardjo, blocking websites or starting from scratch is completely uneducational.
"In fact, people might encrypt it, but it's difficult to monitor. People try to cover it up," he said on Wednesday (January 3, 2017).
Furthermore, it's very easy to switch to another blocked site or access it. Simply purchase new hosting or change your internet protocol (IP) address.
"Block a domain, and then open a new one. Ultimately, it's a matter of strength, especially if you have a lot of money," said the doctoral graduate from the University of Manitoba, Canada.
He cited the example of blocking gambling sites, which would be difficult due to the potentially significant turnover of money. This would allow site owners to easily open new sites. Furthermore, according to Budi, blocking sites through crawling could be a dangerous tool for freedom of expression. The government could potentially also shut down sites that disagree with its policies. Therefore, the targets would not be limited to pornographic content or new forms of radicalism and terrorism.
"Will they use an iron fist to simply block and close the country like China?" he asked.
He believes that blocking on a smaller scale is more feasible and effective, for example, at the school, campus, or apartment level. He cited the example of Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB)'s policy to block such content. On a smaller scale, this can be more easily managed.
"At ITB, there's a blockade, that's the policy, and it's perfectly legal. It's more manageable," said the lecturer at ITB's School of Electrical Engineering and Informatics.
To combat the flood of negative content, it's necessary to combat it with as much positive content as possible online. This is the responsibility of all internet users, not just the government. Furthermore, educating internet users about the dangers of negative content is also necessary.
"It's like, why is it that every day there's only theft? There are so many other good things too," he explained.
Furthermore, the Ministry of Communication and Informatics' use of the blocking system also needs clarification regarding the mechanism. For example, clarification from content owners if blocked incorrectly is obtained, including whether compensation is provided if such an error occurs. The accountability of the monitoring team behind the application must also be clarified.
"The SOP must be clear. What is the procedure for blocking an incorrect user?" he said. (via jun/jpnn/gob)